Picture the scene. It’s Prime Minister’s Questions, the great gladiatorial stage of British democracy, less Gladiator and more Blazing Saddles at a town planning meeting in Swindon. Keir Starmer, sensible Labour’s hero, their knight in gleaming, sensible shoes, rises from the opposition bench. That look on his face, you know the one, shows a man who’s just alphabetised his law books and is ready to go. Across the gallery, Rishi Sunak sits there, gleaming, like a waxwork who’s been told he has to look “empathetic” by 5 p.m. or he’ll be back in the dock. Starmer adjusts his glasses and launches into one of his trademark cross-examinations. It’s like watching a lawyer interrogate a spreadsheet. “Point one, Mr Speaker!” He declares, and you can hear the ghost of Mel Brooks shouting, “What’s wrong with this guy? Where’s the dynamism?” He cites a statistic: a 17.3% increase in NHS waiting times, in case you’re wondering, and it isn’t. Then another: a £3.2 billion shortfall in council budgets. It’s meticulous, it’s legal, it’s as if he’s building a case to prosecute a toaster for breach of warranty. By the time he gets to his witty quip, “The failure of this government isn’t just a policy, it’s a personality trait!”, he drops like a Gregg’s custard tart allowed to fall by a woman worried about her cleaning bills.
If anything, taxes for the lower and middle class and maybe even the upper-middle class should even probably be cut further. But I think that people at the high end – people like myself – should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we’ve ever had it.
This book is dedicated to the great, compassionate, and visionary individuals. They have profoundly shaped my political journey. They have also influenced how I understand the world. Their courage, integrity, and unwavering commitment to justice have inspired me and countless others. Their actions have made an indelible impact on the political landscape of recent times.
Let’s be clear, precise and honest about the world and where we all stand in it, starting with the reminder that the USA has become the world’s number one political basket case. But let’s be straight about this phenomenon. It didn’t just happen when Trump was made President. “Made?” you may ask? Yes, ‘made’, just like the management of the mob, Trump was ‘made’ President.
Like many places in Europe, Spain is a fascinating mix of modernity, liberty, equality, rights and obligations. Unfortunately, and as elsewhere, it also comes with a massive dose of rightwing revisionism. There is nostalgia for a bloody and long dictatorship. A degree of xenophobia and racism is present, defying the facts on the ground. As is usually the case.
The Britain of my youth wasn’t quite the gaggle of internet-enabled basket cases that it has become today. Once, most people were generally more respectful, introspective and considerate. Now, any fool with an opinion as racist, prejudiced or stupid as it can be can shoot their mouth off on a scale never seen before. Of course, there are exceptions, and there were some thoroughly vile people in the past, just like there are many decent people in the present.
The right in Spain offers no realistic alternatives in terms of coherent and cohesive policies, principles and initiatives. They offer no leadership, ideas or statesmanship. Their opposition is not based on respectable alternatives but on lies, defamation and smears.
Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering that data directly into computer systems (i.e. without human involvement). Technologies typically considered as part of AIDC include bar codes, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), biometrics, magnetic stripes, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), smart cards, and voice recognition. AIDC is also commonly referred to as “Automatic Identification,” “Auto-ID,” and “Automatic Data Capture.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_identification_and_data_capture
“I was a fool and what i’ve seen has made me two fools.”
Rafael Alberti, Spanish poet
Friends, Europeans, and fellow citizens, it’s time that we all spoke out against wrongdoing, criminality, and impunity. It’s time we took a stand against injustice wherever we find it. And it’s time to say that enough is enough.
Dud: Pete, did data exist before data warehousing?
Pete: Yes, and tea and hot water. And the only social media platform available to dizzy gobshites was the local boozer.
What on earth have you been listening to, Dud.
Dud: There was this prize eejit on an industry blog saying that data used to mean data warehouses but that it doesn’t anymore.
Pete: Oh, no. Insufferable countenance, Dud.
Dud: I can’t be having it.
Pete: Don’t give in, Dud. Stay and fight the good fight.
Dud: Fancy a beer?
Pete: Okay.
Dud: Here you go. Cheers!
Pete: So, cheers to that too. And now, where to begin? Ah, now I’ve got it.
The problem is, Dud, that many of these ill-informed blog jockeys think that data warehousing is like a car and that to improve it, you have to build a bigger and better car, or in other words, a bigger and better data warehouse.
Dud: Makes a lot of sense, Pete. But could we elaborate on that?
Pete: Look at it this way, Dud, we might buy a car because we want to impress our neighbours and friends, but the whole idea of getting a car is usually to have something that will help us to get from A to B and back again, safely, cost-effectively and without driving us insane.
The car is a significant part of the means, but there is much more to it.
Dud: I see.
Pete: The car is just part of the analogy, Dud. There is a whole raft of things that can be included in our journey from A to B, including the automotive technology used in the car; the streets, roads and highways; the bridges; the tunnels; the parking places; the fuel or energy; the driving skills; the rules, regulations and best principles; the Police; the guarantees; the training, coaching and continuous learning; the certification; the navigation system; the in-vehicle entertainment; the trailer, caravan or bike rack; the triangles, the yellow jacket and the warning lights you can place on the vehicle if it has broken down; the breakdown and recovery services; public healthy facilities; the hospitality outlets; the pedestrians; the other vehicle drivers; the other cars; livestock on the road; wild animals; the weather; rain, snow, ice and high winds; the gas stations or electric supply points; anti-freeze, oil and windscreen cleaner; and, the passive and active security. And that’s just off the top of my head.
Dud: So, it’s pretty comprehensive, Pete.
Pete: As it should be, Dud. Data Warehousing is about getting from A to B; it’s not just the car but everything that goes with it. Pretending otherwise is just perpetuating a stupid, vacuous and ignorant lie.
Dud: It also doesn’t consider our many options, depending on the circumstances. In the case of transport? Buses, trains, planes, boats, lifts, escalators, bicycles, electric and manual roller-blades, skateboards, motorbikes, horses, and just walking.
Pete: Well said, that man!
Martyn Jones, Santiago de Compostela, 17th October 2024.
