It’s a fair point particularly when you think about the spy and other scandals from Fuchs/ Cambridge 5 onwards.
(I’m not sure those waiting months to take up jobs in the civil service would agree but that’s more the getting a laptop / pass side rather than this)
I've built my own civil service pension calculator, and added data back to 2014 to make it work for both the scenarios in the McCloud Remedy.
It's depressing how fast the value of my classic pension is falling. Luckily the alpha element is keeping track with CPI.
Can't retire yet though...
I missed linking your byline to the account!
Am currently reading Sacred Brittania by Miranda Aldhouse Green, so I think I'll be adding yours to the TBR pile!
I grew up in Old Kilpatrick, which claims to be his birthplace.
It's credible. Strathclyde was a nation of Britons speaking a Brythonic language. What we know of Patrick is he spoke a Brythonic language and was trafficked to Ireland from GB.
He could have come from anywhere on the west coast.
Surely they just meant that they put more wood in the fireplace and lit the fire?
Yeah, I'd do the same. I love a good fantasy or historical fiction, but it needs to be well enough researched rather than just a bit of Hessian over the modern bits....
Most doctors agree on a simple plan for life:
- get plenty of sleep
- drink plenty of water
- protect your skin with moss & lichens
- use only wild & sustainable magic
- avoid foods offered by weird fairies in the forest unless you wish to join them in their immortal realm
That's a great idea. It might make some sense for the big procurements too. It ought to save money in the long run with better constructed tenders and perhaps faster mobilisation when you awarded the contract.
It'd defo look weird if you hadn't seen it before!
I live in Angus, and although I'm in the big town (15,000 people; more tractor showrooms than cars) it gets more traction for when I'm meeting people in random laybys to go for a walk on an interesting bit of landscape
I just assumed the 1990z were wild because that's when I was in my 20s for most of them. Went to uni in 1989 and got married in 2001.
Not sure I recall 1996 that well though...
Absolutely, if we could get people to understand the UPRN for where they lived that would be fab.
My use of W3W these days is confined to directions for Explorer Scouts parents on drop off location and always combined with the postcode and a Google map pin with long and lat for disambiguation!
I've heard some of the criticisms about how easy it is to get the words confused and end up somewhere totally different.
That said it probably works better for most folk than either an OS grid reference or a postcode, especially in rural areas.
I got involved a bit with passport deliveries.
Might have to declare them as critical national infrastructure!
That works until you hit blocks of flats, but I'm sure you could add a height based component to sort that.
Although I do wonder how many central London bedsits are smaller than the 3m x 3m squares that W3W uses!
I think it's obvious we're in a Transition to War state. It doesn't make a war inevitable, in fact it might help reign it back. However it will mean we'll be readier than we would otherwise be if it doesn't get stopped.
Am re-reading all my notes and slides etc from MPLA in preparation for the assessment panel on Thursday.
I think I've boiled it down to:
- Heroism isn't inclusive
- Major Project Leader role is to create the conditions for success
- "It depends" - Certainty is an unhelpful illusion
A view looking north over the Moray Firth from inside a WW2 bunker on the headland at Covesea. Through the firing port a merchant ship heads East.
Covesea lighthouse proud on a promontory with a WW2 bunker on the lip, the concrete covered with local rock to help it blend in better
Out on tour today.
Seen Pictish stuff at Burghead. Medieval and cold war alongside each other at Dallas Castle, and a WW2 bunker under the lighthouse at Covesea.
His previous attempt to send munitions to Iran wasn't quite in keeping with the current mood.
Although....
Oh boy it's another Trans Day Of Visibility and here I am, 2700 miles from all my friends and all my family living and dead because the GOP decided my existence should be a new front in the culture wars. Every day brings new horrors and I'm exhausted and numb from being afraid all the time.
Remember my old bot that posted every rejected parliament petition?
I've resurrected it on both Bluesky and Mastodon. Let the chaos begin.
A night sky with the moon shining through some light cloud, and below is the bottom half of the constellation of Orion with the three stars of Orion's belt clearly prominent in the centre of the photo. There are trees in the foreground and the red light on a radio mast.
Was out last night with my Explorers and we had a clear sky with a clear view of the stars. Got to do some impromptu night navigation lessons
The Dupplin Cross displayed in St Serf's Church.
The 9thC Dupplin Cross was installed at St Serf's Church, Dunning, Perthshire, #OTD in 2002. It had originally stood near Dupplin Castle before a spell in Edinburgh. Its Latin inscription links it with Causantín mac Fergusa (†820), king of the Picts and Scots. 📸Tom Parnell #medievalsky
Thu 26th 📆 ProductTank Edinburgh Networking + Social with ProductTank Edinburgh, Edinburgh
www.meetup.com/producttanke...
"A portfolio director who knows their objective – maximising service-value per pound of discretionary spend, within defined risk and reversibility thresholds – does not need a committee"
www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/...
I've just finished rebuilding the website for www.nationalstrategy.uk the UK's huge experiment in national deliberative democracy. Much more to come soon!
My family WhatsApp (wife and both kids) is called "Swearing 👿 (not really)"
That was after the eldest (now 20) was told off in a family gathering for swearing in a room of adults where he was the youngest.
I can't say lots, but I'm currently between roles in CO, previously owned the Target Operating Model for ID Cards (2007-2010) and then worked as an enterprise architect for HMPO. I was rejected for three Digital ID roles. So there must be at least three people that know what they are doing....
With digital ID, you’ll be able to login to the GOV.UK App and prove who you are. But unlike an ordinary login, digital ID will work across different departments and come together in the GOV.UK App on your phone – so you can access all of the services you need in one place.
Spending this morning going through the Digital ID consultation. I've been quite impressed by some of the decisions made by govt around the consultation but the actual doc doesn't fill me with confidence anyone knows what they're talking about. Digital ID is, apparently, not just an ordinary log-in.
