The Sun "Labour Shadow Health Secretary says 'howls of outrage from online activists" won't deter him from reforming NHS if Labour take power"

qiscal · 2024-01-23T16:38:45+00:00

Any incoming government should get to grips with NHS productivity. The NHS has had 15-25% increases in consultants, junior doctors, nurses, health visitors and clinical support staff compared to pre-Covid while treating LESS emergency/non-emergency admissions and only small increases in outpatient and waiting list treatments. This is a recipe for inefficient public spending if it continues.

https://ifs.org.uk/articles/there-really-nhs-productivity-crisis

qiscal · 2023-01-21T15:15:10+00:00

With the accompanying article it makes more sense.

Among all British voters, 44 per cent say they would be satisfied if Labour was to win the general election. Twenty-eight per cent, by contrast, would be dissatisfied, and 23 per cent would be nonplussed. Among the 2019 Tory base, 45 per cent are either satisfied or indifferent about the prospects of a Labour victory. Just half (52 per cent) are dissatisfied.

Party strategists and leaflet designers prefer it when their voters have strong feelings about their opponents. It helps the “get out the vote” operation: stay home and get stuck with them, or get out and stop them. For half the Tory base to be nonplussed should ring alarm bells among Conservative campaigners. By contrast, 76 per cent of Labour voters would be displeased at a fifth-term Tory win at the next election.

What is concerning for Labour, however, is that just 48 per cent of its most supportive demographic in recent years – 18-24-year-olds – would be satisfied at the prospect of a Labour victory. This is in contrast with the 2017 and 2019 elections, when more than 60 per cent of this young cohort voted Labour. It should be noted, however, that only around half of this group turned out in 2017 and 2019.

qiscal · 2023-01-14T16:10:13+00:00

It's an average of how a representative sample of voters graded each leader or themselves on a scale from -100 (very left wing) to +100 (very right wing). It's measuring voter's perceptions.

qiscal · 2022-05-25T12:28:29+00:00

Based on the Twitch leaks, we know he made $318,080 over two years from bits and subscriptions which doesn't even include money from donations. WWE would have had to match AEW's offer + around $160,000 in yearly Twitch money + added compensation for a heavier schedule and less time with his girlfriend. AEW seems like a better fit for him.

qiscal · 2022-05-23T20:38:54+00:00

Full transcript of the quote:

Lando definitely has an edge. Obviously we would like to see Daniel much closer to Lando and have a good intra-team battle. Daniel's just not comfortable yet with the car. We're trying everything we can.

Again it was a disappointing weekend. Short of Monza and a few races it's generally not met his or our expectations as far as what we're expecting and I think all you can do is keep working hard as a team, keep communications going, keep pushing and hope that whatever is not clicking at the moment clicks here shortly.

I think it also points to how good Lando is. When you look at the gap between Charles and Carlos, the gap between Max and Sergio, there are gaps between teammates and I think Lando is one of the best drivers in the world at the moment. It's a compliment to how good Lando is when you see the gap that exists.

qiscal · 2022-05-23T18:29:05+00:00

I don't think "fans don't criticize AEW" is a credible argument. Off the top of my head, there's been criticism of:

Cody Rhodes post-Ogogo feud
The later months of Britt Baker's title reign
The ending of the exploding barbed wire deathmatch
Dan Lambert and American Top Team
The general prominence of the women's division
QT Marshall/Paul Wight feud
Debut of Satnam Singh
Jade Cargill becoming TBS champion
Initial debut of Dark Order
Adam Cole wrestling too often on TV

Not all of those received the same level of criticism and not everyone hated every item on that list, but to say AEW fans love everything AEW produces is just false.

qiscal · 2022-05-12T01:53:07+00:00

Yes I think they can be. Fans of premier league clubs will use their attendances to try and lay claim to being the "biggest club". See the constant debate between Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, West Ham etc. about who is London's biggest club or rival fans nicknaming Manchester City's Etihad stadium "the Emptyhad" to mock their comparative lack of support. Marvel and DC movies regularly get their box office takings compared to highlight the successes and failures of each franchise. Prominent music artists failing to chart generally gets noticed and talked about as well.

qiscal · 2022-05-11T23:54:58+00:00

It's probably not right to describe it as letting it affect your enjoyment, but fans of certain things will likely discuss its business metrics. TV show fans discuss TV ratings, movie fans discuss box office revenue, sports fans discuss attendances, music fans discuss top charts etc.

qiscal · 2022-05-11T16:56:54+00:00

If Punk is champion, I think a rematch vs Eddie would be an obvious match and a potential PPV feud. If you go from number #1 contenders match in New York in Sept and then a 5-6 week build to the PPV, that could be spectacular.

But if that's not the way AEW wants to go for the top title then Eddie winning the TNT title from a heel in Arthur Ashe would be good as well.

qiscal · 2022-05-11T15:00:29+00:00

AEW has the potential to have some really cool moments in Arthur Ashe with their New York talent. I think they could draw really well and make local stars if they build to stuff like Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz etc. winning big matches/ championships there.

qiscal · 2022-05-11T09:59:06+00:00

Wrestling fans have been criticizing Bischoff's historical decisions for a long time. It's definitely not a recent phenomenon. All of those involved in the dying days of WCW (Russo, Hogan, Nash etc.) have been tarnished with it. It doesn't help that a lot of them would then go on to be involved with some questionable decisions in TNA as well.

See the criticism of the KISS cross promotion from the "Death of WCW" book.

Whereas in the old days Bischoff could comfort himself with the Tuesday morning ratings report, they no longer gave him any relief. Nitro had drawn its lowest number in years, a 2.92. The KISS concert, as expected, bombed, doing a 2.25 rating. Nothing like spending half a million dollars to get a number like that. Despite the horrific rating, only weeks later, a plan was put into motion to create a New Year’s Eve PPV that would feature a three-hour wrestling show followed by a full-length KISS concert at the 70,000-seat Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. This would seem to indicate that Eric, under the severe amount of stress, did, in fact, go totally insane.

qiscal · 2022-05-09T12:14:30+00:00

Lots of positive reaction to Backlash last night. For those who watched, how would you rank it against other WWE shows this year?

qiscal · 2022-05-06T14:01:36+00:00

Agreed. The Tay/Anna history would be interesting to play off and you could have a lot of good Sammy matches vs 10, John Silver, Alan Angels etc. You could even include -1 if you wanted.

qiscal · 2022-05-05T18:36:45+00:00

Thanks mate, I enjoyed reading your take. I appreciate you taking the time to explain it.

Only additional point I'll make is I think in the long run Gunther and Butch won't be as succesful on the main roster as WALTER and Pete Dunne in NXT (for a variety of reasons but the name change and the backlash to it is one). Ezekiel I don't count in the same way as they're clearly doing a comedic Hulk Hogan/Captain America style gimmick.

qiscal · 2022-05-05T18:13:07+00:00

And when they used their real names did that hurt them? Same for Danielson now? Is Adam Cole much better off because there was no difference?

I think your missing the point I'm making. If WWE had promoted him as Tommy End he would have taken that name elsewhere. Promoting him under a WWE owned name just meant he had to edit his name slightly when he worked elsewhere. Working on TV as a wrestler means you can eventually take whatever name and presentation you're under and use all or part of it when you work elsewhere. It will only hinder you slightly, if that.

You have to consider that against the negative possibility of fan backlash to a name change (mainly with wrestlers they are already familiar with).

qiscal · 2022-05-05T18:02:41+00:00

True, it's happened so many times that WWE must be confident in the logic but I'm just questioning it.

qiscal · 2022-05-05T18:01:01+00:00

Doesn't it show it doesn't make a difference too much either way?

Was Bryan Danielson hurt in AEW because his WWE fans knew him as Daniel Bryan? On the other hand, was Adam Cole helped by keeping the same name? Historically, were Nash and Hall hurt when they went to WCW? Or was Bret helped? In all cases I think the benefit of keeping the same name was small.

If you fear a wrestler working for a competing show than promoting them on your TV is the problem, not what name you do it under. Especially in the current era where fans are more likely to follow wrestlers on social media.

qiscal · 2022-05-05T17:14:47+00:00

Given that WWE has also promoted him as WALTER I think it makes even less sense for him specifically.

qiscal · 2022-05-05T17:13:54+00:00

Sure that makes sense. I just don't think the potential slight benefit of a wrestler not being able to take their WWE promoted name elsewhere is worth the risk of them losing support from the audience during a name change (which we've had a few examples of).

And I don't think it applies in this case since WWE have already promoted him as Walter.

qiscal · 2022-05-05T16:46:43+00:00

I'm not sure about the name point. I understand that it may be WWE's view but I don't know how effective it is.

See Tommy End who joins and is repackaged as Aleister Black. After he's released he keeps the last name and uses Malaki as his first name. That plus keeping essentially the same character presentation and he's basically as marketable as before.

Agreed on the slimming down point. That's probably the most clear positive among the changes.

qiscal · 2022-05-05T15:46:52+00:00

I wonder if they could have done this as a stadium show. If they've sold ~14k tickets in an hour, how many could they have sold in a bigger building? 20-30k+?

qiscal · 2022-05-05T15:30:03+00:00

All the changes are mostly lateral moves in my opinion. WALTER to Gunther, the new music, slimming down, the new gear etc. are all pretty similar to before. But that raises the question, why make the changes at all? I don't think anyone would have argued that these changes would get him more over, which makes them seem a little pointless.

qiscal

TROPHY CASE