Warren Thompson

@alt_w_v_g Brilliant👏👏👏❤️

The follow-up parent/teacher conference was yesterday My wife went alone I watched her pull out of the driveway Then I called my analyst He was already in his car Parked in the alley Engine running I wore cargo shorts Six pockets Pocket three had the school handbook Pocket five had a highlighter We arrived at 3:42pm Three minutes early My wife saw my analyst in the hallway before she saw me She stopped walking Then she saw me She said "why is he here" I said "support" She said "for what" I said "the meeting" She said "this is a parent-teacher conference and you aren't supposed to be here" I said "every meeting is a negotiation" She didn't move I held the door The teacher was waiting She was not alone The principal was seated beside her Arms folded They brought backup So did I My analyst sat down and opened his laptop He asked for the WiFi password The teacher said "we don't give that to visitors" He said "no problem" and turned on his hotspot I taught him well My wife put her head in her hands The principal introduced himself Firm handshake Said he wanted to "make sure we're all on the same page" I said "I love alignment" My wife looked at the ceiling The teacher pulled out a folder Same color-coded tabs as last time I respected the consistency She said our son has made "some improvements" but there are still "areas of concern" I said "can you quantify that" She said "it's not really a numbers-based assessment" I looked at my analyst He looked at me We didn't say anything The teacher said he still "challenges classroom structure" I pulled the school handbook from pocket three Page 34 Section 2.7 Parent Rights and Student Evaluation Standards I had highlighted six lines The principal looked at the handbook Then looked at my cargo shorts Then back at the handbook The teacher said there was an incident with a multiple-choice question She pulled out the test I pulled my copy from pocket two The teacher stopped talking My wife closed her eyes The question listed fifteen gender options My son selected none of them He wrote "Not applicable" Below that he wrote "Identified: Chromosome XY" Below that he wrote "Source: Biology textbook, page 217" With a footnote My wife looked at me She said "oh my god he's becoming you" I said "thank you" She said "that wasn't a compliment" The teacher said "that's not how multiple choice works" I said "was his answer correct" She paused The teacher looked at the ceiling Why does everyone keep doing that The principal stepped in He said "the concern isn't accuracy. It's compliance." I said "interesting. My auditors say the same thing." My analyst typed something I didn't ask what My wife looked at the ceiling again The principal said he thinks our son would "benefit from learning to work within established frameworks" I said "he will. And then he'll spend his career fixing them." Nobody spoke The teacher closed her folder The principal didn't shake my hand My analyst asked if there would be a follow-up The teacher said "I hope not" In the parking lot my wife said "you wore cargo shorts to a school meeting that you weren't invited to" I said "I needed the pockets" She didn't argue She said "we need to talk about this at couples therapy" I said "only if I can bring my analyst" She got in her car My analyst sent me his notes before I got to mine Formatted Bulleted With action items There were none Except for Plz Fix. Thx. Sent from my iPhone

If there was ever a time for a smart, massive tourism campaign by @gotosouthafrica it’s now! Europeans Americans and Canadians are buying their summer vacations, and with the ME temporarily shut off, the time is ripe.

Melinda Gates responds after Epstein Files suggest Bill Gates got an STD from “Russian girls” and planned to secretly medicate her. NPR: “The emails in the files suggest that Bill Gates had additional affairs and that he tried to get medication to treat a sexually transmitted infection, and that he was going to give you the medicine without you knowing. His representative has said all of this is false… What is your dominant emotion when you read these news articles with these details?” MELINDA GATES: “Sad. Just unbelievable sadness. Unbelievable sadness… It’s just sadness. I left my marriage. I had to leave my marriage. I wanted to leave my marriage. I felt I needed to eventually leave the foundation. So it’s just sad. That’s the truth.”

@BojanRadojici10 Pls send

360 years. That is the collective Excel experience of my team of 30 people, in one room. I have personally used Excel for 20 years. Since the very beginning. We’ve spent decades "crushing it" when it comes to financial modeling. We knew every shortcut. Every nested formula. We thought we had reached the peak of efficiency. (They are better then me, just to admit) But I have something to tell you. The game just changed. In my opinion, we are witnessing the biggest innovation since Excel was first released. It’s not a new function or a Power BI update. It’s Claude. Specifically, Claude’s ability to build and manipulate Excel models. For 40 years, the "manual labor" was the tax we paid. Hardcoding formulas. Spending hours formatting cells. Manually linking sheets and building tables from scratch. That era is over. Claude can now handle the heavy lifting of building the structure, the logic, and the formatting in minutes. But here is the part that really surprised me: It actually understands accounting. It understands the relationship between a Balance Sheet and a Cash Flow statement. It understands how operating drivers flow into a P&L. We aren't replacing our expertise. We are finally liberating it. Instead of spending 80% of our time building the model, we spend 100% of our time analyzing the results. If you want this Prompt and Excel model, just drop a comment and I’ll send it to you. (Important: follow me so I can DM you!)

The United States notes with concern and alarm reports that the Minister of Defense and SANDF defied a government order regarding Iran’s participation in the ongoing naval exercises. Iran is a destabilizing actor and state sponsor of terror, and its inclusion in joint exercises – in any capacity – undermines maritime security and regional stability. It is particularly unconscionable that South Africa welcomed Iranian security forces as they were shooting, jailing, and torturing Iranian citizens engaging in peaceful political activity South Africans fought so hard to gain for themselves. South Africa can’t lecture the world on ‘justice’ while cozying up to Iran.

We’re truly humbled and blessed - our owners will actually be in Manchester!

🚨🚨🗣️ The 1958 spokesman: “For Ratcliffe and the Glazers the game is OVER. Time is UP. We can take no more and urge as many fans as possible to join us in a massive protest [at the Fulham game on Feb 1st].” #MUFC

🚨PROTEST AT MANCHESTER UNITED 😡Fan group The 1958 planning demonstration at the Fulham game on Feb 1 🔴Group will demand the removal of the current ownership model

Have been saying all along that the pseudo-experts on Venezuela that popped up over the past few months were miscalculating the internal situation in the country and government. The story the opposition and Machado were telling was not the reality inside the country, but they were platformed on all major media worldwide and had the ear of governments throughout Europe and the US, and most think tanks regurgitated the same talking points. This has been the case for years - decades really. They were wrong. This is just a simple overview. The government in Venezuela has been comprised of several groups that have a power-sharing pact. They control different sectors of the apparatus - security, military, pueblo, colectivos, institutions, judiciary, oil industry, business, etc. One of those groups - Delcy and her brother Jorge - have now taken power through a meticulous and 'evil genius' negotiation with the Trump administration that has been going on for months behind the scenes. Note that the new indictment against Maduro and Cilia includes both Maduro's son and Diosdado - this is purposefully to put them on alert that they are next should they betray the Rodriguez siblings. CIA is now operating inside Venezuela and can execute another 'extraordinary rendition' at any time on Trump's orders. Delcy has allowed them in and permitted them to stay. The US Embassy is returning, along with all of its intel & military support. The calculation was that the most important thing for the 'Boliviarian movement' (they do not represent chavismo, they long ago betrayed Chavez and his legacy) and their own interests (power, wealth accumulation) was for them to maintain power - no matter the cost, including sacrificing Maduro. There was zero chance they would ever cede power to Machado or the exiled opposition. They represent a system, not a government taking its turn. They will do whatever it takes to retain control of the country, even negotiating and compromising with Trump, the 'evil empire'. The lobby began months ago, both with the Trump administration and in the media. Delcy was positioned in the international media as the 'moderate' and the most pragmatic to deal with. This made it clear that the cards had been dealt. Once Maduro was out, Delcy was in. In the coming days, more business deals will be made, some sanctions may be loosened and prisoners released. They will continue to appease Trump with lucrative deals, opening up Venezuela's rich resources (oil, gold rare earths, heavy metals, minerals, coastline, etc) to Trump and his friends. Perhaps a Trump resort in Margarita Island or Los Roques. All the things Machado promised, but without her. Trump has no interest in democracy or Machado. He never met with her, never invited her to the White House like George W. Bush did during the height of the attempts to overthrow Hugo Chavez. Trump resents her Nobel Peace Prize (which he believes he deserves), but also understands the truth: Machado cannot command the country right now. She does not have the support from the groups in power or their enablers. Delcy&Jorge promised Trump stability and control, for now. If sanctions ease, life can improve inside the country, which will calm tensions over the US invasion and Maduro's violent capture. No doubt that the remaining chavista and leftist movements in the country are not happy with this betrayal. Over time there will be a growing internal opposition to the government, but they will likely employ the same tactics as before - any dissent will be treated as treason and repressed. Especially now with Trump's arsenal hovering above Caracas. They will tell the people that this is necessary to continue the 'chavista movement', even though their true interest is their own power and wealth. However, the biggest wild card is Trump. His volatility and lack of strategy shows he can change his mind at any time. It is a very dangerous time for Venezuela.

This board/ownership can fuck off too. Telling us this manager was going to get 3 years only to sack him a few weeks later. #IneosOut #BerradaOut #WilcoxOut

Money INEOS have spent on rectifying their decisions: ETH payout - £10.4m Dan Ashworth - £4.1m Amorim - £9.25m to hire him, will have to pay him out of his remaining contract. That’s £23.75m in 14 or so months of compensation spent on decisions made by Berrada, Wilcox, etc. That doesn’t include Amorims exit package. For ownership that talks a lot about the financial position of the club and the hurdles encountered financially, there sure is no issue with paying their way out of a wrong decision. There is so much wrong with the club, but can we talk about the ownerships decision making since they’ve stepped in the door?

ETH got a new contract, then got sacked after 8 games. Dan Ashworth was hired after 8 months of gardening leave, then sacked after 3 months. Ruben was hired mid-season with a bunch of promises, then sacked after 14 months. INEOS hasn't proven anything. Sack Jason Wilcox.

🚨 INEOS have been nothing short of a disgrace and a complete joke! - Hired a manager with a different system from what they want, yet won’t buy players specifically for that system. - Witnessed shocking results but didn’t sack him. - Forcing him to change his system but refusing to change the manager. - Won’t spend in January either. Indecisive. Incompetent. Clowns 🤡

@henrywinter The biggest lack of leadership is in the boardroom Henry. When do they answer in front of the press? They are reptilian: Wilcox, Berrada, Ratcliff and The Glazers.

Manchester United used to be synonymous with leadership. In the dug-out, on the pitch, in the boardroom. Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson, Bryan Robson, Roy Keane, David Gill and many others, revered, even feared, authority figures, rated, adored, never ignored. Leaders who thought about the team and the club and fought for them. Football (society?) has fewer real leaders generally currently. At United, this great club changed the moment the Glazers arrived in 2005. United gradually came more about what could be taken out (£) rather than put in (commitment). The leadership principle was eroded, and that accelerated when Ferguson and Gill stood down in 2013. United lost expertise, experience and wisdom. They lost leaders. David Moyes and others tried but the culture had changed under the Glazers. They didn’t know enough, didn’t appoint well enough. They spent money - fans’ money - on the football side but not judiciously enough. They seemed more focused on the business side. The brand played on. The tills were alive with the sound of revenue, the distant Glazers were happy. But the football drifted. The squad cried out for more players with the right character, and proper investment in training ground and stadium. The Old Trafford leaky roof summed up the lack of attention – and a lack of love and leadership. New co-owners Ineos promised better. They promised strong leadership. They have delivered some good things, investment in the training ground, but the team continue to slide. How many United players would get into Arsenal’s XI? Arsenal showed leadership and judgement in appointing Mikel Arteta, and backing him because they could see his leadership qualities. Arteta has authority as well as his obvious coaching strengths. United keep appointing managers and they don’t last. Ruben Amorim – an Ineos appointment - was Manchester United’s fourth manager in their four most recent trips to Elland Road on Sunday following Glazer appointees Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 2021, Ralf Rangnick 2022 and Erik ten Hag 2023. Pay as you churn. How much will Amorim get in his pay-off? Millions. For failure. In a period when Ineos culled good staff – people who care about the club - to save a few quid. Poor leadership. And where was the judgement and leadership in recruiting a head coach committed to wing-backs? United are about wingers. Amorim deserved to depart for his stubborn commitment to a formation and philosophy that didn’t suit United’s squad or their DNA. Good managers adapt. Good managers also don’t talk like Amorim did in too many press conferences. Nice guy, but naïve, a headline waiting to happen, rarely positive. “Maybe the worst team in the history of Manchester United” – not great for players' morale? “I came here to be the manager of Manchester United not the head coach” – his job title from the word go was head coach. “That’s going to finish in 18 months and then everyone is going to move on” – basically predicting his departure. No wonder Jason Wilcox, Omar Berrada and Ineos had had enough. At least they’ve showed leadership in taking action. At least they’ve appointed a leader in Darren Fletcher to take the team for the trip to Burnley. Amorim never felt like a leader. A Manchester United head coach should sound the part – defiant, always positive about his players – and carry some aura. Also be appreciative of the great privilege of leading this great club. Look at United’s remarkable and patient travelling support. Total commitment to the cause. The biggest club in the country deserves to be properly led. And so to the pitch. Where are the leaders? Bruno Fernandes is captain, United’s best player, but not a natural leader. Moans too much on the pitch (but an admirable ambassador for the club off the pitch). Harry Maguire’s a good leader but not certain of his place (or pace). Bryan Mbeumo in a quiet way. Casemiro’s ageing. Too few leaders. Under Ferguson, there would be 5-6 you could give the armband to. Where are the standard-setters now? Any complaints about the criticism of pundits Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Keane should be dismissed. Neville, Scholes and Keane represent the standards that United players should aspire to. The levels of commitment. All of them responsibility-takers, winners, and, in different ways, leaders. Manchester United need to recruit more leaders and for those already at the club, from dressing-room to board-room, to show greater leadership. Amorim was a symptom of the malaise as well as a cause. #MUFC

If Jason Wilcox wants all the power at Old Trafford, let him conduct the post-match press conference. It's got to a point where that would seem to make more sense and be more honest.

@RioMeets @rioferdy5 @joelbeya @MrStephenHowson When can we sack the owners Rio?

Do you agree with the decision to sack Ruben Amorim? #MUFC

INEOS kept on a manager they had no faith in, openly canvassing Europe for his successor but then armed him with £200m to spend on players he wanted, and changed the backroom staff before sacking him anyway. They axed a sporting director, whose way of working was well established, because he did not fit in with how they wanted him to work. He warned them about selecting a head coach attached to a fixed style of play, which didn’t suit the squad and how expensive it would be to build a quality 3-4-3. They didn’t listen, insisted they believed wholeheartedly in Ruben Amorim’s approach, but then wouldn’t fully back it in the transfer market and asked him to change the tactical principles that attracted them to him. Some “best in class” decision-making…

.@GNev2 when are you going to be critical of the people running this circus? It’s always the fault of the manager (Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho, Rangnick, Ten Hag, Amorim - all idiots apparently) or the players at fault. When is it the people responsible for running the club

@gothburz Legendary! 🤣🤣🤣but this is probably all bullshit too🥲

Last quarter I rolled out Microsoft Copilot to 4,000 employees. $30 per seat per month. $1.4 million annually. I called it "digital transformation." The board loved that phrase. They approved it in eleven minutes. No one asked what it would actually do. Including me. I told everyone it would "10x productivity." That's not a real number. But it sounds like one. HR asked how we'd measure the 10x. I said we'd "leverage analytics dashboards." They stopped asking. Three months later I checked the usage reports. 47 people had opened it. 12 had used it more than once. One of them was me. I used it to summarize an email I could have read in 30 seconds. It took 45 seconds. Plus the time it took to fix the hallucinations. But I called it a "pilot success." Success means the pilot didn't visibly fail. The CFO asked about ROI. I showed him a graph. The graph went up and to the right. It measured "AI enablement." I made that metric up. He nodded approvingly. We're "AI-enabled" now. I don't know what that means. But it's in our investor deck. A senior developer asked why we didn't use Claude or ChatGPT. I said we needed "enterprise-grade security." He asked what that meant. I said "compliance." He asked which compliance. I said "all of them." He looked skeptical. I scheduled him for a "career development conversation." He stopped asking questions. Microsoft sent a case study team. They wanted to feature us as a success story. I told them we "saved 40,000 hours." I calculated that number by multiplying employees by a number I made up. They didn't verify it. They never do. Now we're on Microsoft's website. "Global enterprise achieves 40,000 hours of productivity gains with Copilot." The CEO shared it on LinkedIn. He got 3,000 likes. He's never used Copilot. None of the executives have. We have an exemption. "Strategic focus requires minimal digital distraction." I wrote that policy. The licenses renew next month. I'm requesting an expansion. 5,000 more seats. We haven't used the first 4,000. But this time we'll "drive adoption." Adoption means mandatory training. Training means a 45-minute webinar no one watches. But completion will be tracked. Completion is a metric. Metrics go in dashboards. Dashboards go in board presentations. Board presentations get me promoted. I'll be SVP by Q3. I still don't know what Copilot does. But I know what it's for. It's for showing we're "investing in AI." Investment means spending. Spending means commitment. Commitment means we're serious about the future. The future is whatever I say it is. As long as the graph goes up and to the right.

The opening match of #FIFAWorldCup 2026: Mexico v South Africa