Is the way of dealing with the myriad problems of home delivery really quite simple? If retailers allowed shoppers to choose their delivery firm, economic logic would suggest (if delivery charges were flat) then the business should flow to the firm most acceptable to customers receiving parcels... Might this be the answer to the frustration of missed, missing & damaged deliveries? #deliveries #OnlineShopping #logistics h/t Lex/FT
@HarriettMB [@RaffKarva](
Sunny Garden
Raff Karva (@RaffKarva@sunny.garden)
161 Posts, 440 Following, 725 Followers · 🇪🇺 #photography #WildlifePhotography #science #humanism #linguistics #astronomy #physics #running...
 ) I think you're (both) right, costs is likely to be an issue with also the ability to run for free counting for some of that new exercise... that said the gym I attend is both low cost (and has a very easy cancellation policy) but of course you'd have to investigate in the first place to find that out....
The regulars at the gym I go to twice a week have noticed no real new year resolution driven surge of new members this year... and we wondered why? Our best guess was the impact of weight-loss drugs; giving people a different route rather than gym training, to pushing weight loss as a news year commitment. Not sure if that accounts for all of the absence(s) but it is very noticeable this year compared to others. #WeightLoss #gym #pharmaceuticals
Over five million people overpaid their taxes to HMRC in 23/24 t the tune of £3.47bn... partly due the increasing complex tax code & partly as its not alway easy to see exactly what your won tax code entails. But, unlike under-payments where the HMRC is pretty keen to rectify it, on over-payments its up to the tax payer to make an appeal & indeed HMRC claims no obligation to make sure people are paying their tax correctly. The answer: make sure you *do* understand your tax code! #tax h/t FT
It looks like Iran has successfully built a national 'walled garden' to control internet connectivity - both halting outsiders from communicating with those in Iran who are protesting, but also halting Iranians' ability to access the world wide web's myriad resources. How well this 'wall' can be maintained remains to be seen but authoritarian regimes around the world will be watching, that's for sure. #internet #censorship #Iran #politics
the Guardian
Iran plans permanent break from global internet, say activists
Report claims unrestricted online access will be a ‘government privilege’, limited to individuals vetted by regime
Gary Younge (UManchester) reflects on the death this week of Claudette Colvin, an early yet unsung hero of the civil rights movement in the US. As Younge points out (with much wider implications), popular history is made by ordinary people doing extraordinary things.... a message our celebrity obsessed media often seems to underplay or forget, seeing local & personal actions only though the lens of what our political class thinks. #democracy #politics #CivilRights
the Guardian
Claudette Colvin’s life should teach us this: resistance is collective, and it never stops | Gary Younge
Colvin, who died this week, made a stand on an Alabama bus nine months before Rosa Parks. When we met, her message about the struggle was clear, sa...
Its good for young people, it helps local businesses & could be a vital element in the Green Transition... no wonder the Labour Govt. is not willing to offer free bus travel to the under-22s, and similarly its not a surprise that Zac Polanski & the GPEW have hit upon this as a key policy promise in attracting young people whose travel costs can be a major impediment to both working opportunities & families' finances. #transport #greens #politics
BBC News
Green Party calls for free bus passes for under-22s
Green Party calls for free bus passes for under-22s
Something is brewing (pun intended) in the UK's coffee market; as opposed to the usual British consolidation & increasing oligopoly, for now at least the major coffee shop chains are in some difficulty as a rise in smaller chains & independents has captured the (more discerning?) tastes of younger coffee drinkers. Whether the majors can fight back (Cafe Nero is having a better time than Costa & Starbucks) is unclear, but for now market fragmentation is the dynamic. #coffee #hospitality h/t FT
it now looks like the Resident Doctors strike actually might not have had the impact they would have perhaps hoped for: On 'health leader' told the FT; 'the impact of having senior decision makers at all points through the hospital means that actually hospitals went into this Christmas with a lower level of bed occupancy than we’ve seen for years' and thereby avoiding the worse of a winter crisis. Of course this could be management mischief making, but it has a certain logic? #NHS #health
I'm going to say you'll be unsurprised that polling commissioned from IPSOS by Andy Haldane suggests the majority of voters mistrust both the institutions of government & the people who run them; leading to wide support former deliberative democracy (such as referendums - I mean that's been trouble free hasn't it) and more local democracy (devolution - which *has* worked better). But the key thing is voters want new blood (outsiders) in charge... hello Nigel & Zac! #politics #democracy h/t FT