flourish

これ面白すぎる。この人の声はWayne's Worldのゲーム会社の社長に似てるし。
イギリスではこの人の負け惜しみを面白く聞いているのではないかな？？と思う。

Furious Microsoft boss says confidence in UK 'severely shaken'
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65407005

[quote]
Mr Smith said that if the UK wants to bring in investment and make Britain a place "where technology is not only going to flourish, but be created", then "it needs to look hard at the role of the CMA and the regulatory structure".
[unquote]

ゲームはほとんどしたことがないのでどれだけすごいビジネス価値があるのか想像できません。Activisonのゲームってよっぽど面白いのかな？？
親の影響で子供の頃からゲームとテレビと漫画は時間の無駄だと思い込んでいました。その３つに全くといっていいほど時間を使わなかったのに。時間効率的な人生は送れていないんですよね。。。

でもMSFT株価は下がってないですね。株主としてはよかった。さて飲みにいきますか。

despair

最近ブログの更新が多いのは本業から逃げているため。寝れないのに。今日はこの後飲みに出かける予定。
作家先生でもないのに。ギリギリにならないと仕事しません。英語の勉強も同じ。だれか取り立てにきてくれる編集者みたいな人がいないかなー。

Gambling white paper: Gamblers losing £1,000 a day to face checks
https://metro.co.uk/2023/04/27/gamblers-losing-1000-a-day-to-face-checks-in-shake-up-18683292/

[quote]
Ms Frazer said her "balanced" proposal would still let people enjoy a flutter.
[unquote]
flatterとflutterを混乱します。聞き取りは自信がありません。でもここでの使い方は試験には出ない。

[quote]
She pointed out that, for those who become addicted, their smartphone becomes a trapdoor to despair[..] One of the proposals that is known about is a mandatory levy to be imposed on gambling firms, to be used to pay for addiction treatment and research.
[unquote]

[quote]
That will be a big disappointment to campaigners who feel it is now endemic in sport.
[unquote]

明らかに問題があるのに。一方は必ず破綻し、一方は必ず儲かる仕組み。日本でもスマホギャンブルは問題になっていないのだろうか。IR誘致に賛成する人は人でなし。

plainly

そろそろこの人たちも取り上げますかね。Engineering workやStrikeとともに。Londonで遭遇したくないのは過激派。
とはいえ、難しい単語がでてこない。。

Just Stop Oil block traffic in Westminster for third time this week
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/just-stop-oil-westminster-whitehall-protest-metropolitan-police-b1076830.html

ここは重要。
[quote]
The eco-group has called for a march every day from 7am and every weekend from midday in its campaign of action to stop new oil and gas licences in the UK.
[unquote]

規模からするとXRの方がずっと大きいのですが。そごうのマークが気になります。でもこれも難しい単語がない。
Extinction Rebellion: Climate activists stage Earth Day demonstration
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-65362335

Just Stop OilのSnookerのはちょっと面白かったけど。プレイヤーやファンからすると大迷惑ですね。
逮捕者に懲罰的な３年の判決がでたので、さらに過激さを増している感じです。
Just Stop Oil: Dartford Crossing protesters jailed
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-65263650

[quote]
Judge Shane Collery KC said the pair "plainly believed you knew better" than other people and were thinking "to hell with everyone else".
[unquote]

[quote]
Prosecutors said the closure caused "gridlock for miles around" and delayed almost 565,000 drivers.
[unquote]

[quote]
Ch Supt Simon Anslow, from Essex Police, described the campaigners actions as "juvenile and dangerous".
[unquote]

2.5年のほうはドイツ人だったんですね。長すぎるし、止めそうもないのであまり効果がない気がする。

それにしても環境団体はどうしてエスカレートしちゃうんでしょうね。
認知されにくいので過激になるというのはわからないでもないけど、認知されても反発されたら主張は伝わらないのに。
グレタ的な静かな主張がいいのでしょうけど、成功例は少ないのかも。
日本でも国会議事堂周辺にいくと手書きプラカード持って座っているおじさんとか見かけますけど。周りは警察しかいないのに。全然伝わらないですよね。

subsidy

Brexitの影響はいろんなところに。イギリス政府は他の国の先手にどう反応するでしょうか。

UK car parts giant Unipart may shift investment to US
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65393337

[quote]
The boss of a major UK manufacturing firm has told the BBC he is considering moving investment to the US or Europe due to new subsidies offered there. John Neil, who runs parts and logistics giant Unipart, said he wanted to invest in Britain but UK companies could not "compete on a level playing field".
[unquote]
level playing field。初見でsubsidyとsubsidiaryを間違ってしまった。ちなみにsubsidiaryはイギリス発音がアメリカ発音と結構違う。

[quote]
"I've asked our team to think very carefully about our investment strategy in the US and our US operations and whether we should be pivoting more into those markets and possibly also into our European companies," he said.[..]But they have ignited concerns about protectionism among US allies such as the European Union - which is planning its own subsidies in response - Korea, Japan and the UK. "No one envisaged that the Americans would change the rules to the extent they have, it just seemed kind of un-American in a way.[..]
[unquote]
ignite concerns / protectionism among US allies such as the EUの後のwhichはEUにかかるのかな。Koreaは同列でJapanの前。存在感があります。
envisage 何度も出てくるのに忘れる単語。発音も。

[quote]
He added that the US had leapfrogged Europe, which had previously been set to be the number two market for producing batteries. "If the UK is going to compete with what's happening here in the US, a similar level of incentives or favourable legislative environment or framework needs to be put in place," Mr O'Kronley said.
[unquote]
leapfrogはなるほどーという感じ。legislativeはアクセント。put in place。

そういえばJaguar Land RoverはTata Groupでしたね。企業と政府の駆け引きですね。

red tape

先日の increase by almost quarter の復習。体得できるまで。しつこく。

Cost of homemade cheese sandwich rises by more than a third
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65324359

[quote]
Prices of sandwich fillings including chicken, eggs and ham at supermarkets have soared, while the cost of bread has also risen, the figures suggest. Food prices have been pushed up by extreme weather, the war in Ukraine, and outbreaks of avian and swine flu. One father said he had already switched his two children from packed lunches to school dinners at £2.45 a head in a bid to save money.
[unquote]
packed lunchなのにschool dinner。soarは新聞記事では頻出後。fillingsは試験には出ないけど日常語。
学生時代に初めてロンドンに行ったときうまく伝えられずたまごサンドになってしまったトラウマがあります。fillingsは大事。

[quote]
He estimates that the company's wage bill has gone up by at least 20% in the past two years, with more staff now joining from India or China, rather than Eastern Europe, due to increased red tape.
[unquote]
red tape。いろいろ理由を書いてますがやっぱりBrixitの影響は大きい。

上記のpacked lunchの記事があったので見てみましたが。
Five ways to save money on your packed lunch
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65312394
ああー。森永卓郎的な話。。。
でもいつかは厳しい老後がやってくるので、こころ豊かに生きるための準備をしておかないといけない。（蓄えがあってもルフィーとか税務署に持っていかれる時代ですからね）

ちまちまな話は大局でみる。同じ土俵に乗るとエネルギーが吸い取られる。