Around the world, virtues such as compassion and kindness are gathering dust, like old hymn books in a long-deserted church

Towards the end of the summer, the Tory-Reform defector Robert Jenrick authored an op-ed piece for the Daily Telegraph about the seemingly impossible economics of rising benefits bills because of mental ill-health. In his capacity as Reform’s Treasury spokesman, his task was to big up its plans to cut 25% of so-called welfare spending by 2030, and thereby tackle what he called the state’s “suicidal empathy”.

Straight away, I wondered where this most opportunistic politician had borrowed that phrase from, and instantly found out: a book with the same title, published this year by the Canadian academic Gad Saad, whom the dust jacket describes as having particular expertise in “the use of evolutionary psychology in marketing and consumer behaviour”. It comes with an endorsement from Elon Musk. “Western civilisation is doomed unless the core weakness of suicidal empathy is recognised and actions are taken that are hard but necessary for survival,” says the world’s richest man. “All of Gad’s books, including this one, are great.”

Continue reading...

The expanded Champions League is often shapeless, but Aston Villa’s manager returning to the scene of his greatest trauma stands out

“One more match. Just one more match.” Sure, Unai. Sure. Just like all the other matches that generated a local tremor measured at 1 on the Richter scale when that seventh and final goal went in at the Camp Nou in March 2017.

It was inevitable that Unai Emery would be asked about the Remontada game on the eve of Aston Villa’s Champions League engagement with Barcelona, his own first trip back to the Camp Nou in this competition since one of the most visceral and traumatic experiences of his managerial career.

Continue reading...

HERZOGENAURACH (ANP) - De Duitse leverancier van onderdelen voor de auto-industrie Schaeffler gaat duizenden banen in Europa schrappen, waarvan het merendeel in het thuisland. Ook worden vijf productielocaties gesloten, waarvan vier in Duitsland en één in België.

Het bedrijf verwijst naar de crisis in de Europese auto-industrie, die vraagt om "verdere maatregelen en structurele aanpassingen". In totaal verdwijnen 3460 banen, waarvan ongeveer 2660 in Duitsland. Productiefuncties worden het hardst geraakt, gevolgd door banen in onderzoek en ontwikkeling. De banenreductie moet vanaf 2030 ongeveer 300 miljoen euro per jaar opleveren.

Het gaat al langer niet goed met de Duitse auto-industrie, die onder meer kampt met concurrentie uit China. Schaeffler verwijst daarnaast naar een zwakke vraag naar traditionele brandstofauto's en de opmars van elektrische mobiliteit die traag op gang komt. Daar komen volgens het bedrijf nog bovengemiddelde loonkosten in Duitsland bij en een grote complexiteit van de organisatie, met te veel managementlagen.

Geschrokken reacties vanochtend in Rotterdam-Oosterflank. Aan de Evenaar werd maandagavond een man doodgeschoten in een auto. "Ik hoorde bam bam. Ik schrok wel en ben nog aan het trillen", zegt een bewoonster van de straat de volgende ochtend.

ajpscs has added a photo to the pool:

"Once you see it, you can't unsee it”

EXPOSE MORE

ajpscs posted a photo:

"Once you see it, you can't unsee it”

EXPOSE MORE

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

date stamped on slide July 1978

The era of hopping turnstiles is officially over in the Big Apple, because the MTA just fixed the problem of fare evasion once and for all: NYC’s subway fare gates have been replaced by a little guy who bites you if you don’t pay.

Wow. If a small biting man doesn’t deter fare evaders, truly nothing will!

As of today, New York has removed fare gates from all MTA subway stops throughout the city and replaced them with a little man, who will bite anyone that tries to access the subway without paying, regardless of the fare evader’s age, race, or gender. In a statement announcing the new fare evasion policy, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani emphasized that “every subway rider’s fare is important for funding subway maintenance” and that “once the little guy bites a fare evader, he will not let go until the fare has been collected.”

“We’re confident a small man who bites will be a more effective, cost-efficient way to collect New York subway fare than traditional gates and turnstiles,” wrote Mayor Mamdani in the statement. “Even if fare evaders make it onto a train before the little guy can bite them, the little guy will be waiting for them at the next stop, where he will sprint into the subway car as soon as the doors open and clamp his down on the fat of the fare evader’s thigh until they present the $3.00 they should have paid in the first place. While testing the small biting man system, those who were bit say his bite was similar to that of a horse, with teeth not sharp enough to draw blood, but an amount of biting pressure painful enough to teach them a lesson.”

According to Mamdani, the city is hiring one little guy for each of New York’s 472 subway stations, and they are set to receive “an entry-level salary of $91,000 to bite turnstile hoppers, a small tradeoff to save the city billions in fare evasion over the next decade.” 

Absolutely brilliant. Hats off to Mayor Mamdani and the MTA for devising such an elegant solution to one of NYC’s longest-standing issues. Everyone who criticized Mamdani’s push for free buses is eating crow now that NY will be collecting billions in fare that would’ve been lost without his small biting guys. The greatest city in the world just got even greater!

Stores and websites have launched their emotionally manipulative ads hoping you will spend money you don't have with them. Tesco show how to get a delivery driver sacked. John Lewis have Kristin Scott Thomas. Debenhams have Gabrielle. Argos have little Richard Ayoade. Sainsbury's have the BFG. Fortnum & Mason drizzle honey over cheese. Etsy go for a human angle. And Tiffany & Co. have Amanda Seyfried wearing a