All posts tagged: flush

The Observer view on the local elections: Rishi Sunak is a busted flush, it’s time to call a general election | Observer editorial

The Observer view on the local elections: Rishi Sunak is a busted flush, it’s time to call a general election | Observer editorial

Published by skeptic

Rishi Sunak’s government began last week by triumphantly announcing that a man whose asylum claim had been rejected had volunteered to take up to £3,000 cash in exchange for agreeing to take a commercial flight to Rwanda – plus the provision of housing, food and healthcare there for five years at a cost of £150,000 to the taxpayer. Sunak bookended it with some of the worst-ever English local election results for the Conservatives, and the shock loss of the West Midlands mayoralty to the Labour party. A direct line can be traced from this preposterous claim of success to electoral disaster. During 14 years in government, the Conservatives have eroded the welfare safety net, sabotaged the quality of public services through underfunding and neglect, and imposed a huge economic hit in the form of a hard Brexit. Child poverty has gone up, the NHS is blighted by record waiting lists and understaffing and social care services for the vulnerable have been adversely affected. Sunak has no answers on any of this. Instead, the bulk of …

Keir Starmer must flush away the stinking turd of Thatcher’s water privatisation | Water industry

Keir Starmer must flush away the stinking turd of Thatcher’s water privatisation | Water industry

Published by skeptic

George Monbiot is, as always, spot-on with his analysis of the brutal outcomes of water privatisation (How the overseas owners of England’s water companies clean up by polluting our rivers, 26 April). We, the people, were robbed by Margaret Thatcher’s heist, never consulted or asked if we wanted to sell our prized publicly owned assets. Water and the other utilities were hoovered up by new owners slavering at the prospect of extracting all the cash from the companies – “leveraging” to give it a technical term, straightforward legalised money laundering in popular parlance. The post-Brexit sewage crisis highlighted by people like Monbiot and Feargal Sharkey is the most visible result of the great stinking turd of water privatisation. Ofwat is pointless, just going through the regulatory motions while allowing the pollution to continue. Thatcher achieved privatisation with the stroke of a pen and a large majority. Keir Starmer will have the same circumstances to rectify this miscarriage after the election. I hope he has the guts to do it.Peter TimberlakeChichester George Monbiot’s indignation about the water …

Ex-minister urges UK to ‘flush out extremists’ in government who back Israeli settlements – POLITICO

Ex-minister urges UK to ‘flush out extremists’ in government who back Israeli settlements – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

Such attacks have spiked since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel and its taking of more than 200 hostages. But Duncan, who stepped down as an MP in 2019, claimed Tom Tugendhat, the U.K.’s security minister, disagrees with criticism of Israel’s settlement building — and urged his ouster. “How can you have a security minister in the British government, who does not believe in international law, when all this is going on? I think he should be sacked,” Duncan told LBC. Tugendhat has been contacted by POLITICO for comment. His portfolio as security minister does not cover foreign policy, and he has not publicly spoken out against the U.K. government’s current policy on Israel, which is to condemn illegal settlement building. Duncan also turned his fire on several other prominent Conservative figures in the CFI grouping, urging the House of Lords to remove two Tory peers — Stuart Polak and Eric Pickles — for “exercising the interests of another country, not that of the parliament in which [they] sit.” The ex-minister meanwhile launched a broadside …

How to apply blush for a natural, pretty flush

How to apply blush for a natural, pretty flush

Published by skeptic

At the centre of some of the most viral makeup trends you’ll always find blush in some form. Whether it’s a rosy flush to enhance a cold-girl aesthetic, a bronzed tint for an espresso-inspired look or a dewy finish for a glazed blush moment – in our opinion, it always steals the show.  While it can be a great way to add dimension to your look, so many people shy away from pinky pigments from fear of looking overly-rosy.  To help you master the art of getting a flattering flush, we spoke to none other than Sir John, Beyoncé’s very own makeup artist, to find out his tips and tricks to make it work for you… Sir John, why do you think some people shy away from wearing blush? “People can shy away from blush for a number of reasons. Some feel as though it’s outdated which is the furthest from the truth. It adds a warmth and a youthful touch to the face and acts as a sign of inner wellness.” What are some …

Flush with cash, French fintech unicorn Qonto acquires Regate

Flush with cash, French fintech unicorn Qonto acquires Regate

Published by skeptic

While many entrepreneurs are currently facing the harsh reality of a VC funding crunch, Qonto isn’t one of them. The Paris-based business banking startup still has hundreds of millions of cash on hand. And it is using an undisclosed portion of its cash reserve to acquire Regate, an accounting and financial automation platform. Qonto originally started with online business accounts with debit cards specifically tailored for small and medium businesses. Over time, the company expanded its product offering to include invoicing tools, features to manage expenses and plenty of integrations with the fintech ecosystem to facilitate bookkeeping, payment reconciliation, etc. And that modern take on business banking has worked surprisingly well as more than 450,000 companies now have a Qonto account. While France remains Qonto’s main market, the company also acquired its German competitor Penta — and moved Penta’s customers to its own platform — and is also available in Italy and Spain. In 2022, near the peak of the funding frenzy of 2021 and 2022, the company raised a massive €486 million Series D …

How to Flush the DNS Cache on a Mac

How to Flush the DNS Cache on a Mac

Published by skeptic

If you’re having trouble loading websites in your browser, your DNS cache might be the culprit. You can clear this cache without harming anything on your Mac, and this can potentially fix your website-loading issues. We’ll show you how to do so by running a Terminal command. Run a Command to Flush the DNS Cache Next, you’ll need to use the Terminal utility to execute a command and flush the DNS cache on your Mac. Open Terminal by finding it with Spotlight, Launchpad, or Finder. Now, simply type the following command into the Terminal app and hit the Return key: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder If you notice, each command is prefixed with sudo; this means you’ll be asked to enter your Mac’s admin password before you can run a command. Make sure you have your password handy before you try and execute this command on your Mac. Why Should You Flush the DNS Cache on a Mac? Generally, you should clear the DNS cache when you experience DNS-related errors on your Mac. …

Highlight, now flush with M, helps CPG brands automate product testing

Highlight, now flush with $18M, helps CPG brands automate product testing

Published by skeptic

Highlight, an in-home product testing company, raised $18 million in Series A funding to continue developing its technology already helping hundreds of brands test thousands of products. Dana Kim and Ethan Kellough started the company in 2020 after working in market research and engineering, respectively. Kim told TechCrunch that performing physical product research — the way it is done currently — typically involves multiple vendors, over 300 emails, many months and tens of thousands of dollars. Highlight co-founders Ethan Kellough and Dana Kim. Image Credits: Highlight “The number of SKUs on the grocery store shelves is exploding,” Kim said. “Thirty thousand products launch every year, and 95% of them fail. With 75 million SKUs on Walmart shelves today, there’s just a ton of risk and reward, but the point of product testing is really to de-risk and enable product success.” As the pace of innovation accelerates, so does the timeline that CPG companies have to innovate, Kim explained. On the testing side of things, that has shown a need for real-time dashboards, agile insights and …

Nearly a quarter of people in the UK flush wet wipes down the toilet – here’s why they shouldn’t

Nearly a quarter of people in the UK flush wet wipes down the toilet – here’s why they shouldn’t

Published by skeptic

Whether you’re cleaning your house, your car or your child, there are a variety of wet wipes manufactured for the job. Wet wipes are small, lightweight and extremely convenient. They have become a staple in most of our lives, particularly so during and since the COVID-19 pandemic. But according to Water UK, an organisation representing the water industry, flushing wet wipes down the toilet is responsible for 93% of sewer blockages and costs around £100 million each year to sort out. And the majority of these wipes, about 90%, contain plastic. Water UK also found that 22% of people admit to flushing wipes down the toilet, even though most of them knew they posed a hazard. And it’s estimated that 300,000 sewer blockages occur every year because of “fatbergs”, with wet wipes one of the main causes. But it seems wet wipes could soon be banned in England – well, at least the ones that contain plastic – as the government has said it will launch a public consultation on wet wipes in response to …