'super talented weirdos'- Dominic Cummings wants your cv

[campanula]

i stopped enjoying nutella when i saw it's made using palm oil.

I know (sigh). The offspring made me some 'healthy' substitute with agave syrup and carob beans...which languished in the fridge for years (it was horrible). I have binned biscuits but have been unable to find a non palm-oil edible substitute for Nutella so yep, I am going to Hell.

eta I have ordered some Tiptree chocolate spread (almost local to me and I like the jams)...so my berth in heaven now assured.

 

[Lurdan]

No official confirmation of what Sabisky was hired to do but 'inside sources' quoted as saying he was hired as a 'forecaster' in the area of Defence. So what did this polymath bring to the table ?

In April 2017 one of a series of articles he wrote for the International Business Times was
Britain's military is in terrible shape — we must treble defence spending - IBT

How would we pay for this trebling ? Simples

Evidently, this calls for a radical re-orientation of the government's tax and spending priorities. The triple lock must be abolished. Pensioner perks such as free prescriptions, free bus passes, and free TV licenses are all well and good, but our national security needs have grown so great that we can no longer afford to be so generous to a demographic that has seen unprecedented income growth over the past seven years.

The VAT base must be radically broadened, and I would suggest also that housing benefit should go altogether. Even after some generous compensatory increases to Universal Credit and the Working Tax Credit, these reforms would still very massively increase revenue. Uneconomic and eye-wateringly expensive transport schemes such as HS2 should be scrapped.

The article concludes with an awesome illustration of his Superforecasting skills

It is not clear that the quasi-monopoly that BAE Systems enjoys over defence contracts leads to good value for money. Whether or not it should be broken up is one of many hard questions facing our country.

Perhaps Theresa May's forthcoming vast majority in parliament will, after 8 June, embolden her to ask them.

 

[JimW]

Turns out the box he thinks outside of is the one of frogs.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

They're always so fucking boringly predictable, these types. The rape fantasies, the military wet dreams. One is rarely surprised by them.

 

[Pickman's model]

No official confirmation of what Sabisky was hired to do but 'inside sources' quoted as saying he was hired as a 'forecaster' in the area of Defence. So what did this polymath bring to the table ?

In April 2017 one of a series of articles he wrote for the International Business Times was
Britain's military is in terrible shape — we must treble defence spending - IBT

How would we pay for this trebling ? Simples





The article concludes with an awesome illustration of his Superforecasting skills

tbh something like what this article says would make more sense to the government but they're really keen on having a big stick after 2015 - the next security era for britain (pdf)

 

[CNT36]

His past tweet about aborting Downs syndrome babies was beyond out of order -- absolutely disgusting (I'd forgotten about it, but I do now remember being repulsed at the time).

But in that latest tweet, he's merely attempting to state a fact as he sees it -- selective breeding works for other species. He's not advocating it. Not for humans anyway. Or am I wrong? I don't see the latter in that tweet above
If Urbans are going to pile onto Dawkins, I suggest
1. On another thread to this one
2. Sticking to what he actually said, not what people think he said, or wanted him to have said.

He's wrong. It doesn't work for animals though has some benefits for the humans doing the selecting.

 

[likesfish]

Building bigger hardware and hiring more troops is an obvious solution but begs the Question WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY FOR!

The troops fought like lions in Afghan and Iraq but it doesn't matter how good your troops are if you've sent them to do the impossible.
The empire has gone, only I think loading the QE up with best afghan poppy and sailing to hong kong is a viable plan.

getting into a fight with China is insane Russia is a rather nasty local bully but is rather limited in range.
Saudi is going to implode in the next few decades.

Slapping the MoD with a wet fish whenever they decide a piece of kit needs to meet unique "British requirements" or they come up with a plan to save money would save a bundle of cash and actually provide troops with actual kit. rather than powerpoint presentations and jobs for consultants

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Whether or not it should be broken up is one of many hard questions facing our country.

I remember writing essays at school and ending them like this when I hadn't bothered revising what the actual answers were.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

He's wrong. It doesn't work for animals though has some benefits for the humans doing the selecting.

Depends how you're measuring the benefits. For the individuals selected, it means life for them rather than never existing. At species-level, it can mean proliferation - the domestic chicken is the most numerous bird species on the planet. For the planet as a whole, it may be very destructive, not least because it enables more humans to live at any one time.

But Dawkins is clearly referring here to a technical point - the assertion that selective breeding can produce desired directed results. On that narrow technical point, he is right.

 

[Edie]

Whenever you hear the phrase ‘destroying a talented young man’s career’ you know you’re coming up hard against some serious priviledge.

 

[CNT36]

Depends how you're measuring the benefits. For the individuals selected, it means life for them rather than never existing. At species-level, it can mean proliferation - the domestic chicken is the most numerous bird species on the planet. For the planet as a whole, it may be very destructive, not least because it enables more humans to live at any one time.

But Dawkins is clearly referring here to a technical point - the assertion that selective breeding can produce desired directed results. On that narrow technical point, he is right.

Well, if he's technically right it's all dandy.

 

[CNT36]

Whenever you hear the phrase ‘destroying a talented young man’s career’ you know you’re coming up hard against some serious priviledge.

He's not even a footballer.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Well, if he's technically right it's all dandy.

He's right about what he's talking about. You may well think he's wrong about other things to do with eugenics, but that doesn't change whether or not he's right here. Either you misunderstood him or you are mistaken in your knowledge of selective breeding.

 

[Big Bertha]

My mate was fully on that monzo bandwagon from the get go, before they had a banking licence, so it was basically a charge card, he'd have to transfer money onto it to spend. He would give money to them when they crowdfunded, I couldn't get my head around it, you don't get equity or anything, it's like giving to charity but the charity is some hipster capitalists. Mug. All he could say was that he didn't like banks and this lot were 'different' and that the app is good. No interest, no overdrafts, no branches. And every bank app will do the same now, obviously, because if the technology exists and its successful then everybody else will replicate it. So you just have a shit bank card with a dickhead name.

I think they got shares when they crowdfunded didn’t they?

 

[Proper Tidy]

I think they got shares when they crowdfunded didn’t they?

I didn't think so? Maybe. I asked him at the time and he said they didn't but as we've established he's a mug and a tit so could have been wrong

 

[Big Bertha]

He's wrong. It doesn't work for animals though has some benefits for the humans doing the selecting.

Isn’t broccoli a result of eugenics?

 

[Big Bertha]

I didn't think so? Maybe. I asked him at the time and he said they didn't but as we've established he's a mug and a tit so could have been wrong

This was their first crowdfunding attempt.

As far as I can see since then the shares have done really well, but I’m certainly no expert.



Today at 1pm we relaunched our crowdfunding round after overwhelming demand crashed Crowdcube’s servers on Monday.
I’m very happy to announce we have raised £1m in 96 seconds, making this the fastest crowdfunding raise in history at more than £10,000/second. More than 1800 individuals will join Passion Capital as investors in our current investment round of £6m. Over the coming days, we will be working with Crowdcube to contact everyone who registered and finalise their investments, as well as contacting those who missed out.

 

[Proper Tidy]

This was their first crowdfunding attempt.

As far as I can see since then the shares have done really well, but I’m certainly no expert.



Today at 1pm we relaunched our crowdfunding round after overwhelming demand crashed Crowdcube’s servers on Monday.
I’m very happy to announce we have raised £1m in 96 seconds, making this the fastest crowdfunding raise in history at more than £10,000/second. More than 1800 individuals will join Passion Capital as investors in our current investment round of £6m. Over the coming days, we will be working with Crowdcube to contact everyone who registered and finalise their investments, as well as contacting those who missed out.

Fair enough. I still think he's a wanker for giving his bank £20. I see one of these charge card challenger banks has already closed its virtual doors last week, problem they have is hardly anybody uses them as their main account. No revenue.

 

[SpookyFrank]

If the bloke was a Von Braun hiring him could be justified but he's hardly a unique "talent" just a rather nasty spaad

Deliberately seeking out those who self-identify as 'super talented' seemed like such a flawless plan as well.

 

[CNT36]

He's right about what he's talking about. You may well think he's wrong about other things to do with eugenics, but that doesn't change whether or not he's right here. Either you misunderstood him or you are mistaken in your knowledge of selective breeding.

I was commenting on what was written in the post quoted. If they've misrepresented Dawkins' views take it up with them. I doubt the benefits for the animals selectively bred. You claim existence and proliferation as benefits. You'd have to put those benefits into some context. How has the breeding affected their quality of life? What environment are they spending the glory of existence in?
Any benefits to the animals bred are in any case not the point. They are bred for the pleasure, utility or profit of those selecting or their masters. I doubt it would be different with humans.

 

[CNT36]

Isn’t broccoli a result of eugenics?

Lots of plants are.

 

[Big Bertha]

Lots of plants are.

I suppose Hitler was a vegetarian. Makes sense now

 

[SpookyFrank]

Isn’t broccoli a result of eugenics?

'Eugenics' as commonly understood refers to deliberate and systematic manipulation of human genetics, so no not really. Broccoli, along with all sorts of other staple foods like maize, lemons, bananas and wheat, are products of selective breeding. Likewise modern domesticated sheep, chickens, cattle etc. But what we've learned from agriculture, particularly modern industrial monoculture, is that eradicating genetic diversity on purpose is likely to backfire. Bananas can no longer reproduce in the wild, and their gene pool is extremely limited as a result. This makes them highly vulnerable to pests and disease. Humans are no different; we need all of the (pretty limited) genetic diversity we have to maintain our ability to adapt to new contexts and to increase out chances of surviving new threats, as well as to minimise the effects of recessive genetic disorders already in our gene pool.

 

[Proper Tidy]

Also it's ok to fuck around with genetic make up of vegetables and dare I say it to a lesser extent with animals than it is with actual people

 

[elbows]

Has anyone checked to see if any nazis heads in boxes have been installed at Number 10?

I usually resort to watching this clip at times like this, as it elicits a powerful emotional response in me.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Also it's ok to fuck around with genetic make up of vegetables and dare I say it to a lesser extent with animals than it is with actual people

Yes and it's pretty OK to put vegetables in the oven, the wrong kind of humans less so.

 

[two sheds]

Not to mention that they won't fit.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Also it's ok to fuck around with genetic make up of vegetables and dare I say it to a lesser extent with animals than it is with actual people

The main difference is that generally we know what aspect of the animal or veg we’re attempting to improve. More meat, bigger leaves, hardier against cold.

Eugenics relies on things that it’s harder to look for, when it’s not seeking to kill the disabled, more intelligence being the main one but intelligence is a fickle beast. There are phd students who can’t cook, working class ‘thickos’ who can play the piano like Mozart.

It’s all a bit pseudo science in places. What eugenics advocate really want are more people like them so god help us.

 

[ska invita]

Thinking about Manter's point (speculation?) that this guy got fired because of the "sex advice" rather than the eugenics (which appears to have been given the seal of approval by Cummings , hence republishing on his own blog).

They obviously knew about the eugenics but missed very old posts written under a pseudonym on Reddit. (Or did they?). Were it not for that would he still be in position?

Was speaking to a friend yesterday who described Cummings MO as shooting "fireworks" and watching the reaction. It doesn't matter if they fizzle out (or lose their jobs in this case), the act is useful in itself, brings ideas into circulation, disrupts, etc. Expect more of this...

 

[two sheds]

"Or as Boris Johnson’s second most sinister strategist (after Dominic Cummings of course) Lynton Crosby used to call it: “throwing a dead cat on the dining room table” to distract everyone."

Boris Johnson’s infamous 'dead cat strategy': inciting hatred against MPs

'For those of us who do want to work cross-party to achieve a deal, this is making it much, much more difficult,' confirmed Lisa Nandy as Paula Sherriff spoke of fears another MP would be murdered.

www.thelondoneconomic.com