Julian Schwarzenbach

Trying to stay sane and make sense of a world gone mad. #Data #assetmanagement #photography #skiing UK based

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianschwarzenbach/
Website: https://www.dpadvantage.co.uk/

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Last Notes

2026-04-23 04:34:19 GMT

Brilliant comment in the FT
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2026-03-29 09:44:26 GMT

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Failure of voters to ‘see the big picture’ and think that having strong views on a single issue is one of the reasons we are in this global mess. We cannot have the ‘ideal’ government we would like, we have to look across their policies etc. (even the ones we don’t agree with) to see who, on balance, is best. But all that is difficult and it is far easier for far right grifters to push a single, simplistic message.

2026-03-16 09:52:18 GMT

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Support for charities either financial or in terms of labour appears stronger in more affluent areas, less so in poorer areas. This worsens the situation of those 'left behind' and can only be fixed by government intervention and some form of redistribution. Charities cannot do this alongside their core roles

2026-02-17 09:29:13 GMT

I'm marking some student assignments at the moment and one yesterday stood out, but not for the right reasons.
The language was professional sounding and articulate, polished even, but the flow of meaning meandered all over, repeated itself and lacked structure.
Overall, the assignment did not impress (whilst superficially using impressive sounding, professional language).
Then at the end of the references a statement that ChatGPT had been used to tidy up language, improve phrasing etc. "all in line with the institutions AI policies".
If the student had taken the time to read and understand the brief, do the work and then create a clear narrative, they would have done so much better.
AI may be seductive, but it is not always good! #AI #ai_slop

2025-12-15 13:14:55 GMT

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All signs of a system that is not working. It takes time, effort, clear thinking and ongoing adaptability to ensure that each part of the overall system is functioning, that they are functioning together and that outcomes are improving.
The current system seems to be very inefficient, so we are not getting anywhere near the outcomes we should be getting.
Focus on metrics for one part of an overall system is hugely misleading, but can be easy for some of our less intelligent politicians to latch on to and lazy journalists to repeat without considering wider implications

2025-12-01 10:42:39 GMT

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That said, such legislation would likely end up being very complex, difficult to enforce and subject to intense lobbying from those vested interests....

2025-12-01 10:41:52 GMT

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Agree that our economy appears increasingly dysfunctional due to, often, foreign multinationals not paying fair levels of tax to the gov, paying workers minimum wages and then expecting the government to top up their income with benefits (where they have under contributed to government finances).
Perhaps legislation to encourage fairer distribution of the revenues/ profits of organisations to employees, rather than owners/ directors, is required?

2025-11-09 17:42:02 GMT

#SilentSunday #charnwood #leicestershire
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2025-11-03 09:31:17 GMT

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If the NHS is instead viewed as a 'wellness service' then perspective changes radically.
Think about the effect on GDP if niggling health issues are addressed promptly before they become big ones that prevent someone working? Think about mental health issues where earlier and more effective support should greatly reduce far more expensive care/support needs when someone reaches crisis point.
Too much is viewed in terms of 'cost' rather than benefit/ enablement to a functioning economy.

2025-11-02 18:51:25 GMT

#SilentSunday #ilkleymoor #Ilkley #yorkshire
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2025-10-21 12:11:44 GMT

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Understood and agreed.
Are there any common measures that show the level of wealth inequality in an economy?

2025-10-21 10:26:55 GMT

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We live in country with plenty of rich people and probably far more who are really struggling financially. Yet looking at the economy, we are not in a robust position, so arguably are not a rich country, just a country with a lot of rich people.
Sadly, the Citizen's Advice network is a collection of charities that are reliant on donations and bidding for funding for projects etc. so are also not in a robust, resilient position.
Add in the increasing reliance on food banks, also charities, and the view that we are a rich country becomes harder to maintain. Rich by which measure? Overall GDP or GDP per capita masks the millions who are struggling.

2025-10-04 07:17:42 GMT

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similarly, the increasing tendency to view everything as polar/ binary. I.e. Something is really good or really evil with no nuance in between.
We live in a complex world with difficult multidimensional problems, yet increasingly people tend to believe a simple falsehood rather than a complex truth.

2025-09-07 11:49:19 GMT

#SilentSunday #warwickshire
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2025-08-31 13:53:21 GMT

#SilentSunday #Derbyshire #CromeHill
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2025-08-06 08:33:07 GMT

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So many poor managers seem to think that if people are in the office, then they won't shirk/ be idle/ unproductive etc.
Shirkers have always found ways not to work - taking the long route to get more copier paper, taking long smoke breaks (even if they don't smoke), chatting in break areas, chatting anywhere, printing items when they could be emailed.... etc. etc.
Heck, Scott Adams made a whole career out of documenting this in the Dilbert cartoons

2025-06-20 09:19:08 GMT

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The conversion of polytechnics, which provided valuable applicable skills, to universities was a backward step, in my opinion. We are now also paying the price of ending 'traditional' apprenticeships around 30 years ago as skilled people retire. We need a society where all can be valued and appreciated for what they contribute, not the current absurd meritocracy

2025-06-16 16:56:50 GMT

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The whole approach to social care/ care in this country is broken. That in turn is having significant negative impacts on the NHS, on keeping people out of the workplace due to caring requirements, of private residents subsidising state funded care-home residents.
I would suggest that what is needed is a root and branch reform with a system built from the ground up - tweaks at the edges and small increments in funding will not do!

2025-05-26 14:04:59 GMT

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I used to water for a water company (but not for 17 years now). The company I worked for at that time was genuinely trying to do the right investment/ planning for the future without excessive dividends.
I would argue that Ofwat, despite supposedly being independent, were leant on by successive governments to keep bills down, rather than invest at the level needed. They also were not resourced to effectively monitor the excesses of some.
Thames seem to be the worst case with both Mcquarrie extracting excessive amounts whilst underinvesting in the assets/ organisation. The focus on having low bills rather than bills/ investment being at the right level is a key part of where they are now. Infrastructure organisations are a bit like supertankers, when they go off course, a lot of effort and time is needed to get back on course - far better to keep on the right course!

2025-05-26 09:00:37 GMT

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Part of the drivers for privatisation from the Tories were to push long term investments away from central government (which means gov is unpopular for tax rises) to private entities (who may be unpopular, but not the gov!). Some private sector participation is sensible e.g. franchised operators, but for our national infrastructure genuine long term thinking is required - not sure the Treasury models are designed for 100+ year assets!

2025-05-26 07:26:48 GMT

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It's a political choice over the level of fares set. Lower fares would mean higher subsidy, and therefore a greater hit on the Treasury, perhaps. But, encouraging travel off roads and onto public transport will reduce congestion and the need for ever more roads/ bypasses/ car parks etc. so is a saving to the Treasury.
Lower fares are more equitable, so probably not what those who are wedded to their SUVs want!

2025-04-17 11:50:41 GMT

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An alternative approach may by to tax organisations based on how equitably earnings are shared across all employees. i.e. an organisation with high CEO salary and most staff on minimum wage taxed higher than one with the same CEO salary, but few on minimum wage and a fair spread of salaries.
Would clearly be a nightmare to define and monitor, but may change the tone and even out earnings

2025-03-16 12:35:03 GMT

#silentsunday #snow #norway
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2025-02-23 08:32:29 GMT

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Highly likely. I once worked in an office where the contract cleaners had a check list to follow when cleaning the toilets. This was religiously followed, but there was one problem....
The list did not include cleaning the floor! So over time a distinct stripe appeared on the floor where feet went compared to the areas where you don't put your feet.
A bit comical really, but a good example of the dangers of people slavishly doing a task and doing a job

2025-02-23 08:19:27 GMT

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organisations often need staff in supporting roles to make the organisation efficient and effective. It is highly likely that what is happening in the US will have a lasting impact on organising and the economy as a whole and not in a good way....

2025-02-20 08:41:08 GMT

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Agreed. The ending of traditional apprenticeships and down grading further education started with the Thatcher government.
As with many such things, the impact only started to be felt 20-30 years later. Now we are too reliant on migrants with the right skills as we are no longer training our own.
Changing course will also take many years to see visible results- a challenge in todays soundbite culture where results are expected to be instant.

2025-01-31 08:57:46 GMT

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I think there is still a fear of pile ons by the Brexiloons/ ERG etc. As the saying goes change happens gradually and then suddenly. I hope that this gradual recognition brings us to a tipping point sooner rather than later. That said, rejoining the EU would have to be without all the opt-outs/ exceptions we previously had which would be a difficult ask for many who are pro-EU - "I'm for the EU, but don't want the Euro" etc.

2025-01-27 09:10:05 GMT

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Also, time to call out the many lazy journalists/ news sources who state "[Person/ Organisation] stated on X/Twitter that...." without any other sources referenced.
What about other sources, not just Mastodon, and some evidence of analytical thinking?

2024-12-17 09:15:15 GMT

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I used to work in the water industry and my perception is that Ofwat, whilst publicly being stated as an 'independent regulator' gets leant on by governments to focus attention on certain things and away from others.
CSOs and sewerage problems have been known about for many years, water companies have tried to get investment, but Ofwat repeatedly push back on this.
Perhaps things may be starting to change?

2024-12-13 08:49:32 GMT

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Also, they need to look at the workload and pressure on teachers. These are currently at unacceptable levels.
Some people I know who are teachers have gone down to a 4-day week. They actually work 5+ to do all the prep, marking, teaching etc. but now only get paid for 4 days. Who would choose that work option?

2024-12-10 09:51:27 GMT

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Also, in many cases, the dilution factor is significant i.e. the sewage overflow is a small percentage of river flow.
Storm tanks are often used to catch the first 'strong' sewage overflowing and returning it for treatment later, so that the overflow is generally more dilute sewage.
Sewage in rivers is more of a problem if dilution is low - bacteria in rivers will break down the sewage (much as they do in sewage works) but not if the dilution is low

2024-12-10 09:40:28 GMT

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Much of the problem with sewer overflows is that decades ago we went for the cheap option of combined sewers i.e. rain and foul water in the same pipe. When it rains, volume increases dramatically, hence the need for overflows.
To prevent this is not cheap - new sewers (very expensive and disruptive), increased storage (less expensive and disruptive, but have a finite volume before overflow), more treatment (very expensive).
No easy options!

2024-12-10 09:04:46 GMT

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Agreed. Water privatisation was, IMHO, mainly because the gov knew massive investment was needed i.e. bills would need to go up, which would make the gov unpopular. But privatise it, and the private companies are unpopular, not the gov

2024-11-28 13:21:19 GMT

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Sadly the UK mindset is that public transport is a cost to society not an enabler. If public transport is a reliable, reasonably frequent and cost effective service, then people will use it. London is a good example of this.
However, looking at rural bus routes - 1 bus per day etc. then it makes it less likely people will ditch the car and rely on public transport

2024-11-28 10:57:48 GMT

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Not sure if this is still the case, but Switzerland used to have a central timetabling authority that worked across trains, buses, ferries etc.
The operation of lines/ groups of lines within this timetable was then franchised out. So still a motivation to run efficiently, but all as part of an overall service to the country.
Perhaps too logical an approach for the UK!

2024-11-14 10:58:39 GMT

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Some insightful accounts:
@npub1ld5…63uk @npub14cd…50ap @npub1zg4…56fh @npub1hfw…pfwr @npub10zx…uuel @npub1qqm…v4e4 @npub15t7…08hr @npub1tx7…gew8 @npub1wkr…yvj6 @npub1060…s838 @npub12pw…zvxn

2024-11-14 10:53:29 GMT

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Much of my approach to building up a network has been to follow specific hash tags and then when I find insightful/ interesting/ intelligent posts, I tend to follow that person.
Repeat the above on an ongoing basis.....

2024-10-06 08:33:34 GMT

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Plus the scandal of private residents having to subsidise care of the publicly funded ones due to the low level of funding. Why is there so little coverage of this?

2024-09-30 12:59:54 GMT

#Tories continue to be totally delusional.
Keep going, means you will be out of power even longer
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2024-09-29 09:38:23 GMT

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Based on the Brexit 'negotiations' it is probably more like 5-10 years clogging up politics and preventing many other urgent things being addressed

2024-09-27 07:42:38 GMT

#FensterFreitag #Lichfield
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2024-09-16 07:56:47 GMT

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Agreed. Also, decisions on whether a candidate/ party are doing the right thing have to be taken in the round. The fact that for a single issue they have not voted your way, does not mean you should not vote for/ support them. We need to assess the overall performance/ potential of politicians.
Plus, things take time to change, so the fact that after 3 months Labour are confirming what we all knew - the economy/ country is in deep doo-doo, does not mean that they are wrong

2024-09-04 10:30:52 GMT

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A number of years ago the Swiss had a strategy of making sure that every train station had at least one train per hour. That required investment, but was part of getting the Swiss public transport system to where it is and to avoid spending so much on roads/ car parks etc.

2024-09-04 10:29:27 GMT

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For a well functioning economy we should do both as a minimum. Invest in transport schemes across the board. This will be a major long term benefit to the economy, help the shift away from cars/ road travel and rejuvenate large parts of industry/ the economy.
Too often these decisions are presented as either/or but never both

2024-09-04 06:34:31 GMT

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Some of the franchising decisions were questionable. I believe the original Virgin franchise was relatively generous allowing a fleet upgrade to Pendolinos and major track upgrades. After getting teething troubles sorted out, service was pretty good.
Franchise renegotiations since then have been ever more stingy leading to worsening service and the appalling Avanti. Public transport should primarily be run as a service not as a profit centre.

2024-08-22 08:14:52 GMT

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The problem is not just a rural one, where we live in the Midlands, the last bus between two communities of 35,000 and 80,000 only 8 miles apart is 1830 in the evening.
The cinema, skating, bowling etc. are in the bigger place, so all the people wanting to use those facilities have to drive/ be driven.

2024-08-22 08:08:09 GMT

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Public transport should be run as a service to the country, with benefits from reducing congestion, need for roads/ car parks/ infrastructure etc. This should include rural areas where 1 bus a day each way is clearly not going to help move people away from car usage.

2024-08-22 08:06:53 GMT

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We will always need car parks, just hopefully less of them. For those we have, solar roofs will both generate electricity, but also reduce the need for air conditioning by cars since they won't be heated up by the sun like they would if left in the open.

2024-08-22 08:02:39 GMT

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Invest in public transport so that people can get around without needing a car.
Promote the 15 minute cities concept to try and get work, shopping, leisure, schools etc. within 15 minutes walk of homes.

2024-08-18 09:27:40 GMT

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The NHS is frequently viewed as a cost to be controlled, rather than an enabler for a better performing economy and for a more equitable society

2024-08-16 10:34:58 GMT

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Agree that HASAWA has gradually made safety a higher priority across my working life. Some of the poor work practices I witnessed in the 80's are now far rarer. Whilst many heavy industry jobs have gone abroad, there is still a lot of construction work in the UK and even in warehouses, safety can be a big issue.
The sad thing is, many people still treat the actions of companies as "Health and Safety gone mad" rather than poor management!

2024-08-10 08:41:40 GMT

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The threat/ possibility of that 'nuclear option' would provide more attention. However, some of the big players may take a stance that it is only temporary and they take the hit to profits. With any controls, we also need to think about all the Fediverse - the small guys may be hit adversely, setting a 'reach limit' may mean some smaller bad actors can still operate, sadly

2024-08-10 08:28:53 GMT

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Agree that it is an interesting idea. To make it work the social media platforms would have to keep enough moderation staff/ tools on standby ready for whatever instruction is received. This will hit profits and since UK is a small player globally, will be difficult to enforce, I suspect

2024-08-05 06:43:32 GMT

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the lack of an industrial strategy for many years coupled with government being happy to be over reliant on the tax take from the city leads to many of our current ills. An over heated south-east, depressed rest of the country and no resilience to economic shocks like Brexit means we have an unbalanced and under performing economy. Hope Labour get a grip on this - but even if they do, it will take a long time to correct course

2024-07-04 10:28:54 GMT

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I've been on the periphery of areas where NHS outsourced child autism assessments and initially the outsourced service was good, fast and responsive. When the contract was relet, procurement screwed the costs down so tight that the same organisation could no longer provide a good service. So, outsourcing can and should be part of the solution, but doing it at the lowest possible cost will actually end up costing us more overall

2024-07-02 06:37:21 GMT

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They often state you should follow the money.... Would love someone to follow Richard Tice's money to explain why an apparently experienced businessman is spending so much on a political vanity project?

2024-06-24 20:24:51 GMT

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But if a couple of protestors had sprayed orange poster paint around, then what a lot of coverage there would be about radical lefties etc. Another symptom of our supposed news outlets being more interested in clickbait and entertainment than actual important news