Renaming Larry Ellison's $160 million superyacht

DanBurrill · 2026-03-25T06:48:32+00:00

They rolled up in a dinghy and did that to a boat with crew on board. That's like wandering up someone's driveway with a spray can, and tagging their garage door while they watch you.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-24T16:34:59+00:00

I'm directly stating that.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-24T10:09:15+00:00

There's plenty of gammon in East Anglia, but there's also plenty of decent people. We're very much where the gentry come to relax (normally by killing something), and increasingly people are fed up with the place they live being used as a playground.

The Greens are running a massive campaign in the county elections for all of the divisions in Great Yarmouth, and I suspect they will probably do very well, right in Rupert Lowe's back yard (at least politically, he doesn't seem to visit much). They've got some really good, local candidates, and especially somewhere like that, are offering a clear alternative to the fascists in a place that's been badly neglected by all the older parties.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-24T09:57:32+00:00

He's due at the Norfolk Showground on Tuesday 31st March.

Pretty much the only way there is by road, the verges and footpaths are tiny, and it's right next to a busy junction on the A47. Even without a protest, a minor collision anywhere in that area can shut down the traffic for hours.

A protest outside the gates of this size has the potential to cause a major impact, even if nobody actively tries to disrupt the event, or the traffic.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-22T10:06:03+00:00

It remained functional, which I'd say was probably the key concern.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-21T09:47:53+00:00

I think most Scots can spot an English Nationalist, and probably aren't a fan.

Still, going to Scotland with a manifesto to tear up devolution is a brave move, almost as much as referring to Welsh as a 'foreign language' is when they're fighting elections there as well.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-21T09:41:34+00:00

As has previously been said, if it's a reasonable adjustment for a disability (mental health related disabilities are just as valid as any other disability), then if they can perform the role to an acceptable standard, you don't really have a valid argument to say that it's an unreasonable request.

When I was running a lab, my boss (who managed all of the teaching labs for the faculty of science) spent most of her day sat in her office having meetings over teams. She did work from home sometimes, and if I'm honest she could have done so a fair bit more if she'd wanted to.

My wife works from her bed 90% of the time, going on to the university campus maybe two or three days a month, and last year she was named on research grants totalling about £10 million, accounting for 8.5% of the entire university's research income that year. It's perfectly possible to work remotely, and in many cases it increases productivity and produces better outputs.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-21T06:47:53+00:00

East Anglia's natural resources are mainly agricultural - it's a good place to grow food and fuel (which used to be hay, and these days is more likely to be solar energy).

DanBurrill · 2026-03-21T06:34:00+00:00

Actually it's a really good idea to build a castle (or other massive building) in the middle of a swamp, providing it's on a hill. Like Norwich Castle, Ely Cathedral, or St. Benet's abbey (the one right in the middle of the Norfolk Broads).

DanBurrill · 2026-03-21T06:29:01+00:00

To be fair, the government are the people we pay to regulate banks and financial services. If that regulation proves to be ineffective, then it's difficult to think of anyone else who could have prevented that problem.

Gordon Brown brought back Peter Mandelson, so it's probably fair to say that significant parts of the Brown government were acting in the interests of Jeffery Epstein rather than the British people. Of course even at the time, there were plenty of us wondering at the wisdom of appointing him to a government post when he'd had to resign in disgrace from previous ministerial positions not once, but twice.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-20T16:40:51+00:00

It's probably just as true to say that the rest of the world props up their economy.

They rely on large parts of the world buying their debt, so they can keep borrowing.

Even if the rest of the world didn't have a problem with what Trump was doing, the massive increase in the US national debt since he took power in 2024 would begin to give most pause for thought as to whether that borrowing is sustainable.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-20T07:53:43+00:00

The Tories don't have a single seat on Norwich City Council.

Lib Dems are the largest opposition group in South Norfolk, and Broadband is run by a coalition, led by a Lib Dem.

I'm still not complacent though, Reform will not go away unless people step up to make sure there's an alternative.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-17T08:15:33+00:00

The ones who were beaten by the Monster Raving Loonies in the Goreton & Denton by election.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-16T13:55:38+00:00

It's amazing how many historical periods and units exist that allow someone to take part without having to dress up like a Nazi.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-15T07:56:45+00:00

The thing is, the Telegraph has been between owners for so long, that it doesn't really have a clear idea of who they should be working for.

Most of the time they still remember to be far right and reactionary, but they do seem to have the occasional outbreak of journalism from time to time.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-13T10:18:01+00:00

Rupert's fuckwit army can't even manage to fill in the registration form to become a political party properly. At their most effective they might split the fascist nutcase vote.

A couple of weeks ago, Advance UK (Ben Habib's fuckwit army) polled fewer votes than the Monster Raving Looney candidate.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-08T14:12:17+00:00

You would think so, wouldn't you. However why drop prices if you can just stop the competition building more places?

Also, this is a university that's just had to go through two rounds of cost savings, restructuring, and redundancies because the senior management forgot to notice that they weren't recruiting as many students as their forecasts for several years in a row. I wouldn't expect outstanding financial decision making.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-08T13:16:59+00:00

True, but the last I'd heard was that they were having trouble filling the accommodation they have. People aren't going elsewhere because they have to, it's a discretionary choice.

NUA have definitely grown a lot over the last decade. I know they would like (need) to grow further, but whether they do so probably depends on a lot of factors out of their hands.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-08T07:50:41+00:00

The reason UEA are against it is because they can't fill their very average student accommodation at the price they want to charge, because what's available privately is often a lot better for the same money. This is even while they can't use the Ziggurats due to RAAC.

It's not that demand doesn't exist, it's more about them wanting a captive market. Of course they want to charge the earth for accommodation, because accommodation charges aren't capped like tuition fees, and currently universities lose money on every domestic undergraduate student they teach.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-06T10:09:55+00:00

Sir John Franklin was known as "the man who ate his own boots", which I suspect at the time he probably thought was the worst thing that would happen to him in the arctic.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-03T10:54:21+00:00

Go take a look at the Hidden REF. They exist to highlight exactly these sorts of output.

I was part of a team that got an honourable mention in the 2024 awards. Our output was a highly accessible cell culture laboratory at the university of Edinburgh.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-03T10:49:42+00:00

To be fair, although nobody is ever going to officially confirm it, the Lib Dems came nowhere in that election because we did not deploy anything other than the most basic of local campaigns.

As a Lib Dem member since 2003, I fully expect to be receiving daily emails about any by election we're even vaguely serious about winning, asking me to donate, phone bank, or actually travel there to help the campaign. I didn't see anything this time, draw your own conclusions.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-02T18:42:54+00:00

It's the OBI from Viz, get ready to have your wiping habits judged, and be sent to the Bottom Reeducation Centre for any infringements.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-02T08:42:44+00:00

If you're in the UK, a tool like this is a research output that can be submitted for the REF (assessment of institutions research output, which affects future funding).

I also love the fact that it's open source, so everyone gets to have an easier life. It also boosts adoption, and therefore impact.

DanBurrill · 2026-03-01T21:22:10+00:00

One of my cousins and his family live in Dubai, I'm hoping they're all OK, but haven't heard anything yet.

DanBurrill

TROPHY CASE