Member Info for skier1

To be fair, all major European govts are also using Signal, or similar commercial chat apps. And, let's not forget, Boris got call-hacked by Russian YouTubers posing as the Armenian PM in 2018, while Merkel and her top 125 ministers had pretty much every one of their presidential mobile phonecalls tapped and listened to between 1998 and 2014, for two decades, the biggest technology leak by any govt ever anywhere in the entire world in all of history. UK and Europe can't really complain about US tech sloppiness -- they're just as bad, maybe worse 👍

Hardworking businesses in the community are being overtaxed, while the country is being forced into austerity by vicious cuts to vital public services. Labour is embarking on a "tax and austerity" campaign, that will cause distress and alarm to hardworking members of the community.

The UK pub and bar industry grew revenues a healthy +5% in 2023, the last full year under the Tories 👍

It's hard to see UK pubs and bars growing under Labour in 2025. Decline is more likely. A wave of enormous tax increases are sapping cash and will from the people. Few can afford the pub.

So far this week, there has been the huge and unprecedented tanker fire "accident" in Yorkshire, the enormous 1km fire sweeping northern Cornwall, the highly unusual wave of 24+ major simul-fires across Wales, and the complete shutdown of Europe's no.1 busiest airport (Heathrow) due to a "surge" and fire and loss of power at an undefended substation, leading to the paralysis of the world's no.1 city. Not to mention also the loss of power at a defence factory in Edinburgh yesterday, and the loss of major power in the Hague, near the ICC court.

All a coincidence, no doubt.

Definitely, nothing to see here 😉

SBRE CEO -- the top dog -- bought more SBRE stock this week. A bullish sign.

https://www.tipranks.com/news/company-announcements/sabre-insurance-ceo-increases-stake-with-share-purchase

Obviously need all 3 legs of the stool to work together at the same time. Or the stool falls over. Animal-friendly meat has to taste delicious (quality), be affordable (price), and perceived safe (ethical). It won't be perceived safe if the industry and media keep throwing words about like "lab meat" or "frankenfood". The industry really does need to work hard (collectively) to get the messaging adjusted and right. Or it will fall at the first hurdle.

US inflation has halved since Trump came to power, from 3.0% in Jan 2025 to about 1.7% on Mar 19 2025. Egg prices (core food) are down, fuel is down, tariffs are mostly a bargaining chip. Trump has a good case -- Powell should have trimmed rates yesterday.

Can't see any serious de-ordering of US military kit. It's by far the best game in town. Canada is talking about switching from US F-35 jets that have stealth and drone tech, to Swedish Gripen jets that don't have stealth and drone tech. It ain't happening (other than spite). What's more, if the US exits NATO, and the Baltics have to self-defend against a Russian invasion across the Suwalki Gap and Baltic Sea, then Sweden (-93% smaller than Russia) will be overrun in about 15mins -- and all your Gripen kit will be instantly worthless. Canada and others will whinge, but US kit is the only serious game in town.

Good link. The description "animal-free" looks most popular among the Western public.

Yes, this looks wildly undervalued, and should really be up at the £2-3 level. Due a (major) rerate. Profits have doubled. Dividend is up by half. A gem in the insurance sector.

That's why the industry urgently needs new descriptions for its products. Get away from outdated descriptions, like "lab" meat, and move toward modern descriptions such as "fermented food" or "eco meat" or "farm-friendly cheese" (or whatever).

At the end of the day, almost all modern food is made first in a lab.

For example, the bread industry (extensively) uses calcium carbonate -- which is scraped from filthy underground rocks. Nobody calls it "lab bread" or "rock bread". They call it farmhouse bread, or some other nice description. The cultured food industry needs to learn that lesson -- and fast.

Ukraine is one step closer to peace.

A typical day, he said, was boiled mice and turnips for breakfast, shoot down some German planes in the afternoon, then up in the club with some ladies in the evening 🫡

Don't think anybody takes the BoE seriously anymore. All it ever seems to do, year after year, is talk down the UK economy, get its forecasts wildly wrong, mis-control inflation, and mis-set rates. It's an utterly discredited institution.

Labour are not gonna fix the "benefits" system! The civil "servants" who throw the cash around like drunken sailors are Labour voters. The unions who tug the strings of the deep state are Labour voters. The "claimants" who make big money from bennies are Labour voters. Labour will gaslight it. Say one thing, do another. Confidently predict the UK "benefits" bill, currently £300b in 2024, will be well north of £400b by the end of Starmer's regime in 2030. And, to pay for the waste, tax will go up even higher, to record levels. Your tax.

Canaccord has set a target share price for ANIC of 16p. Today is at 7p. Operating expenses are under good control, and well under £1m a year. Cash sits at £10m. NAV plus cash is at 16p. Canaccord says buy.

The BBC maps are sourced from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), one of the world's most respected institutions 😉

To be fair, the latest BBC war maps from 2 days ago clearly show the Ukraine forces are effectively surrounded and encircled on all possible sides. It's not pleasant, but, yet again, Trump is right.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60506682

Council tax has become a 2nd mortgage.

You get one mortgage from the bank. You get a second mortgage from the council. Only, that council mortgage never goes down. It never stops. It never goes away. It must always be paid. It always goes up.

Council tax is wildly out of control, and can't keep going on up year after year after year. It has to stop. Council tax has to start coming down. It is a 2nd mortgage, a millstone, taken from NET pay (not gross), and it is making life a misery.

Gunsup,

Yes, that's the one. The £750 taxfree cash payment is basically 1 year of free petrol or diesel or electricity!

The scheme is breathtaking.

The UK taxpayer will basically give you -- for free -- for 3 years...

* free £52,000 BMW car

* free metallic paint, to impress the neighbours

* free £1500 car insurance

* free £1000 servicing

* free £750 cash taxfree for free petrol

* free £400 tyres

* free £300 breakdown cover

* Total = £55-60k free car

It's mind-blowing.

Just re-looked at the monthly UK GDP growth stats...

Since Labour entered No.10 in Jul 2024, the UK economy has shrunk for 4 of their first 7 months in office. Decline (57%) is outpacing growth (43%). We are in a slow-motion car crash.