Jonathan M. Ratcliff

Sales Development Expert, Speaker, Coach, Mentor. Tweet about Business, Technology, Social media. Sports fan. From NW but loving Birmingham.

[Guillem Balague @GuillemBalague]

I am glad I am not a typical #England fan 🤯

You put expectations so high, analyse games on what it should be, not on what there is, you expect clear wins in World Cups if the rival is in theory 'inferior'... I thought Latins were the emotionally charged fans but you beat us for sure! 😉

#England have some of the best players around (Kane, Bellingham, shame Saka injury doesn't let him shine), structure, idea, right culture, all necessary to be successful

They will get better agains better sides

[Jonathan M. Ratcliff @JRatcliff01]

@cardinalpnr Very well, thank you.
I will be in touch.

[Jonathan M. Ratcliff @JRatcliff01]

@cardinalpnr Very well, thank you.

[Jonathan M. Ratcliff @JRatcliff01]

@cardinalpnr Looking good!

[Dalai Lama @DalaiLama]

MESSAGE

I wholeheartedly endorse the powerful appeal for peace made by the Holy Father, Pope Leo, during his Palm Sunday Mass. His call for the laying down of arms and the renunciation of violence resonated profoundly with me, as it speaks to the very essence of what all major religions teach.

Indeed, whether we look to Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism or any of the world's great spiritual traditions, the message is fundamentally the same: love, compassion, tolerance, and self-discipline. Violence finds no true home in any of these teachings. History has shown us time and again that violence only begets more violence and is never a lasting foundation for peace.

An enduring resolution to conflict, including the ones we see in the Middle East or between Russia and Ukraine, must be rooted in dialogue, diplomacy and mutual respect — approached with the understanding that, at the deepest level, we are all brothers and sisters.

I urge for and pray that the violence and conflicts may soon come to an end.

DALAI LAMA

31 March 2026

[Michael Strong @flowidealism]

If your child becomes a reader, about 80% of the education job is already done. That's my honest assessment after working in education for over thirty years. Everything else is secondary. Most parents think science education is important. Yes it is. But if you can't read the biology textbook, you're not going to learn biology.

Reading is the meta-skill that enables all other skills. History requires reading. Science requires reading. Even math increasingly requires reading as it becomes more sophisticated. The child who reads voraciously will figure out everything else. The child who doesn't will struggle with everything.

[Everton FC News 💙 @NilSatisNews]

🗣️Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on Everton's away support: “I said how amazing [the fans have] been this year. Not an empty seat in there, singing the whole game, even when we were the second-best team in the first half.

"The scenes when we scored the goals and at full-time, that's why they travel.

"That's why it makes it so special when we can turn games around and get three points." 💙

[Deborah, My Friends Call Me Slayer💙🔥🐸⚔️🐸🔥💙 @drodvik52]

@SenSanders @judyAL14

[ALASTAIR CAMPBELL @campbellclaret]

As close as anyone will ever get to an apology from The Orange ManBoy. But now he needs to say the same to the other 31 countries he insulted

[Jonathan M. Ratcliff @JRatcliff01]

Come on @IndeedUK Any chance you could sort out the Job alerts so they reflect what I am looking for?

[Jonathan M. Ratcliff @JRatcliff01]

I support Mark Carney's views wholeheartedly.

[Occupy Democrats @OccupyDemocrats]

BREAKING: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers an astonishing eulogy for the end of American dominance thanks to Donald Trump: "This bargain no longer works."

It's rare that a world leader speaks so candidly about how the world really functions. This speech will be studied in the history books...

"We knew the story of the international rules-based world order was partially false, that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically," Carney said during an address at the Davos World Economic Forum. "And we knew that international law applied with varying rigor depending on the identity of the accused or the victim."

"This fiction was useful and American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security, and support for frameworks for resolving disputes," he continued. "So we placed the sign in the window. We participated in the rituals and we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality. This bargain no longer works."

"Let me be direct, we are in the midst of a rupture not a transition," said Carney. "Over the past two decades a series of crises in finance, health, energy, and geopolitics have laid the bare risks of extreme global integration."

"But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons," he said, clearly referring to Trump. "Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructures as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited. You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination."

Carney's analysis offers a refreshingly honest perspective on the post-World War II order. Western nations, led by the United States, created a sophisticated network of global institutions and rules that privileged their interests, often at the expense of developing nations. It was a flawed system that nonetheless brought peace, stability, and prosperity to the nations that it was created to benefit.

"The multilateral institutions on which the middle powers have relied, the WTO, the U.N., the COP, the very architecture of collective problem solving are under threat," Carney said.

"And as a result many countries are drawing the same conclusions, that they must develop greater strategic autonomy in energy, food, critical minerals, in finance and supply chains," he continued. "And this impulse is understandable, a country that can't feed itself, fuel itself, or defend itself has few options. When the rules no longer protect you, you must protect yourself."

Carney was driving at a hard truth that MAGA refuses to acknowledge. Despite what Trump thinks, European nations haven't been content to accept a kind of vassal state status simply because they're scared of the United States. They've gone along with the world that America designed because it directly benefited them in concrete ways. Now that Trump is stripping away those benefits, they're going to begin decoupling economically and strategically from the United States. Canada's massive recent trade deal with China proves that.

The problem is that Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters are too ignorant and paranoid to understand that the system they're destroying helps them. They take for granted the American dollar's status as the global reserve currency. Once these hidden pillars that hold up the world start crumbling, quality of life in the U.S. will plummet.

"But let's be clear-eyed about where this leads. A world of fortresses will be poorer, more fragile, and less sustainable and there's another truth..." Carney continued. "If great powers abandon even the pretense of rules and values for the unhindered pursuit of their power and interests, the gains from transactionalism will become harder to replicate."

"Hegemons cannot continually monetize their relationships. Allies will diversify to hedge against uncertainty. They'll buy insurance, increase options in order to rebuild sovereignty, sovereignty that was once grounded in rules but will increasingly be anchored in the ability to withstand pressure."

There is no putting this genie back in the bottle. Thanks to the stupidity, pettiness, and egomania of Donald Trump, America has been hurled into a dangerous new status quo. The rest of the world will never trust us in the same way again, but if we can remove him from power and vote in Democrats, we can at least set about undoing some of the damage.

The future is uncertain, but what is certain is that our country will only survive if Democrats are the ones at the wheel.

Please ❤️ and share if you think that Trump is destroying America.

[Jonathan M. Ratcliff @JRatcliff01]

Well said.

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

WATCH: Ed Davey, leader of the UK Liberal Democrats, delivers a blistering takedown of Trump in the British Parliament:

“President Trump is acting like an international gangster.
Threatening to trample over the sovereignty of an ally. Threatening the end of NATO altogether. And now threatening to hit our country and seven European allies with outrageous, damaging tariffs unless he gets his hands on Greenland.

This is an incredibly grave moment for the United Kingdom, Europe, and our world. Without provocation or justification, the President of the United States is attacking our economy, our livelihoods, and our national security...

The only people cheering him on are Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.”

[Jonathan M. Ratcliff @JRatcliff01]

'Bucking the trend' with 'a genuine bargain' - #COYB https://t.co/e3vy5HN3wH

[JACK @jackoefc27]

14 years ago today, no signs or thoughts to suggest he wasn’t feeling himself

Always check in on each other lads 💙🎗️

[Jonathan M. Ratcliff @JRatcliff01]

A touching story of kindness.

[Crazy Vibes @CrazyVibes_1]

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.
There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.
'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.
She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.'
'Oh, you're such a good boy,’ she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive
through downtown?'
'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly..
'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice.’
I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice.. ‘The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.
We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'.
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.
Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.
They must have been expecting her.
I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
'How much do I owe you?' She asked, reaching into her purse.
'Nothing,' I said.
'You have to make a living,' she answered.
'There are other passengers,' I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.
'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.'
I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life..
I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.
We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.
But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID ~BUT~ THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.
🙏🏼🥰✝️

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

When My Team Complained About the Janitor Taking Too Long on Break

The first complaint came at 2:15 PM.

"Mr. Francesco has been in the break room for thirty minutes," my assistant said, glancing at her watch. "Breaks are fifteen."

I waved it off. "He's probably tired. I'll check on him."

Five minutes later, another employee appeared at my door—but this time, the concern in their voice had shifted to irritation.

I found Mr. Francesco sitting alone, his weathered hands covering his face. When I asked if he was okay, he jumped up like a student caught sleeping in class.

"I'm fine," he said quickly. "I just... I had a small anxiety attack. Trying to catch my breath."

I told him to take all the time he needed.

Ten minutes later, the third complaint arrived: "Francesco hasn't taken out the trash, and there's no toilet paper in the women's restroom. How long is this break going to last?"

That's when something inside me snapped.

I called everyone into my office.

"Mr. Francesco has worked here for twenty-six years," I began, my voice steady but firm. "He's a widower who lost his son last year. To reach this country, he crossed a jungle and a river on foot. He served in the military and defended Kuwait in 1990. He donated a kidney to save a stranger's life. He's survived three major surgeries. He's fifty-eight years old."

The room went silent.

"This man has given more to this building—and to this world—than most of us ever will. So if you see him sitting down, catching his breath, *leave him alone.* If there's no toilet paper, come find me. I'll replace it. I can take out the trash too."

I looked around. "Any volunteers to help? No? Then I'll handle it. But let Mr. Francesco have his peace."

From that day forward, no one ever complained about him again.

Sometimes he still sits a little longer. Sometimes he pauses mid-hallway, lost in thought. And honestly? After everything that man has endured, the least we can do is let him rest.

When asked why I defended him so fiercely, I said something simple: "Because kindness costs nothing—but its absence costs everything."

Credit: Monika Smith

[Everton @Everton]

A goal that gets better with every watch. 🔁

🇸🇳💙

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

Illman Ndiaye brings so much to Everton. First, in possession, that brilliant goal. Never a foul in the lead-up, great technique and balance in the dribble past Xhaka and Ballard, clever use of Mukiele to mask his intention from Roefs, confident finish. Two-footed, first dribbling with his right, then shifting on to his left. Second, out of possession, that work ethic, hunting the ball, protecting the right flank. #EFC #SUNEVE

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

In the USA in 1943 they produced a film 'Don't be a Sucker' about fascism.

It perfectly explains Nigel Farage, Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the entire Right.

[Paul Rees. ex Rucksack. @HannahIamthest1]

The lady at the charity shop today told me that she wishes people would clear out their children's old toys in the lead up to Christmas rather than after because she always sees a number of parents in the days before Christmas looking for toys for their little ones who might be strapped for cash. She said there's very rarely anything in just before, but that they get inundated with toys in the days after.

And it really made me think about it in a way I never would have before.

If you know your child is going to get lots of presents from Father Christmas this year, by clearing out your cupboards a few days early, you could make another child's Christmas a lot more special too.

Saw this & thought I'd repost.