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• Post #4419068

  @Lazarou@mastodon.social I mean, he still has socially conservative views on some topics - he fucking hated Jeremy Corbyn! - but I've been in conversations in which he's argued that all the fuss about migrants is a distraction, and that if we don't want refugees coming here then we should stop helping to bomb their counties back to the Stone Age. Coming from a former Nazi I'd say that qualifies as a real change of heart!

• Post #4418777

  @Lazarou@mastodon.social There's one who effectively lives in our local pub, who is quite open about having been National Front back in the day (yes, he's very old how!). He still has the tattoos. I genuinely think his alcoholism cured his fascism. Hanging out in a family pub almost every evening brings you into contact with a lot of different people. So they do exist. But in my experience it's incredibly rare for those attracted to far-right ideologies to ever change their views.

• Post #4363292

  @Captain_Jack_Sparrow@mastodon.world @jonesmurphy@mastodon.social It has since come to light that Reform has received £24 million from oil, gas and fossil fuel interests. That's about two-thirds of their total income, and the reason for their opposition against net-zero targets.

• Post #4170963

  Officials are now asking LLMs for reasons to deny valid asylum claims. "A senior judge has accused the Home Office of relying on “AI hallucinated” information to refuse an asylum claim. The case relates to a Moroccan woman and her child who fled her country after experiencing forced underage marriage and extreme violence, including rape. The woman claimed asylum on the basis of fears that she would be killed by her husband: a powerful, previously convicted criminal." https://www.the...

• Post #4137016

  Anyway, as a break from my usual topics, a pal gave me several huge bags of porridge oats they didn't want, so I started having porridge every morning to save money. Since COVID, I've been struggling with mood regulation - common for those with chronic symptoms. But this completely resolved itself within a few days of eating porridge. Coincidence? Nope. Turns out, it keeps blood sugar steady through the day, feeds a healthy gut biome, and increases serotonin, the "happy hormone&quo...

• Post #4098020

  Iran spent decades building its "Mosaic" defence system: a matrix of parallel, overlapping organisations rather than a single, traditional chain of command. This decentralised system was designed specifically to thwart an American "shock and awe" attack. I'm not supporting the Iranian regime when I say that the US cannot degrade this system faster than Iran can rebuild. This is Vietnam on steroids: defeat is inevitable, and the longer the Trump regime postpones it the mo...

• Post #4091136

  Evidence just keeps pouring in that the biggest threat to women and children in the UK is the far right themselves - not Muslims, asylum seekers or migrants in general. These political ideologies are magnets for abusers of every kind. "Data released by Hampshire police under freedom of information laws shows that 22 of 37 people (59%) detained in Southampton after Vickrum Digwa was jailed for life have been reported for crimes associated with intimate partner violence." https://www.t...

• Post #3814195

  @randahl@mastodon.social In a UK context, this would be aimed at perpetrators who are also Muslim, asylum seekers or other darker-skinned migrants, not offenders in general. It's a dog whistle for the far right: they promulgate the toxic myth that newcomers increase crime and are more likely to be sexual offenders and abusers of children. Which is nonsense.

• Post #3813846

  In 2011 in Tottenham Hale, London, 29 year-old Mark Duggan was shot dead by police in what many regarded as a summary execution with racial motive. This triggered nationwide outrage and rioting. There was looting, arson, robbery, assault and murder. 16 members of the public were injured, as were 189 police officers and community support officers. Five people died from injuries. 2,815 homes and businesses were attacked, many of which were completely destroyed. There were more than 3,000 arrests.

• Post #3795032

  It's been a dark revelation to genuinely have needed and used a walking stick, these past few days. As someone who stereotypically doesn't look like I need one, I've fresh insight into the lives of those with perceived disabilities. People shouting "peg leg!" from across the street, for example. Lots of folks around here who already know me well, showed love and asked what had happened...but what if they'd never encountered me as anyone other than the "disabled pe...

• Post #3788674

  The far right is flourishing here and across Europe. "The UK Ijtima event at Shrubland Estate was brought to a close early by organisers on Sunday following advice from police. Counter terrorism policing London said twelve people have been arrested as part of an investigation into an extreme right-wing terror threat against an Islamic event in Suffolk... Eight of the 12 people have been arrested and detained under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000...police said." https://www.ead...

• Post #3785990

  Next time someone from a hot country mocks Europeans for struggling with the unusual heat, ask if the thousands of dead were imagining it. "The heatwave that affected England and Wales in June killed about 440 people a day during its three-day peak, scientists have estimated... The data starkly illustrates the danger of extreme heat...supercharged by the climate crisis. More than 40% of the people affected would not have died without...human-caused global heating..." https://www.the...

• Post #3674301

  It's just one more symptom of the strange and often surreal times we're living through that I'm seriously rooting for a man who wears a bin on his head in a British by-election.

• Post #3609998

  Fascists can also control the means of production. "In view of the fact that private organisation of production is a function of national concern, the organiser of the enterprise is responsible to the State for the direction given to production. State intervention in economic production arises...when the political interests of the State are involved. This intervention may take the form of control, assistance or direct management." -- Benito Mussolini, Fascism: Doctrine and Institut...

• Post #3580436

  This will be a short thread of home truths about capitalism. Contrary to popular belief, Western economic dominance wasn't built on "free markets". It was built on pipeline and tanker routes, energy consortiums and contracts, enforced by brutal colonialist wars and the might of armies. It was built on the backs of the enslaved and the subjugated, and depends to this day on an endless supply of cheap hydrocarbons. And eventually, these fuels are going to run out. 1/6

• Post #3580435

  @ai6yr Do you mean, falsely represented on Maps as a green space, to hide the fact there's really a military base there?

• Post #3580434

  Polls on the fediverse be like... A 50/50 mix of sweet and salty popcorn is best.

• Post #3475996

  Reform was set up and is run as a business. Members can't challenge or remove the leader, block constitutional changes or demand transparency or internal checks. "Reform UK has received £24 million from oil and gas interests, accounting for more than two thirds of its total income, DeSmog can reveal. Led by Nigel Farage, the party is calling for new North Sea oil and gas drilling ahead of UK-wide elections in May on the ill-founded claim that it will cut energy bills." https://w...

• Post #3442725

  How the "most moral army" behaved in the first Nakba of 1948. "In general, the rule was to shoot “every 10th man” [a Roman military punishment known as decimation] in a captured village where outsiders were found. ...while there was an order to raze villages, in some cases, that was not enough..when it came to Arab a-Zabah, a Bedouin community in the Lower Galilee, not a soul or a trace was to remain. “Every Arab among the Zabahim is to be killed,” the order stated." http...

• Post #3388544

  A new report from the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry has concluded: “Based on the evidence, and consistent with its previous reports, the Commission finds on reasonable grounds that the Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have continued to commit the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.” https://www.thenational.scot/news/26222066.israel-committing-genocide-pal...

• Post #3297095

  It's illegal in the UK to use threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior that stir up hatred or are intended to cause harassment, alarm or distress based on race, religion or other protected characteristics. Why then are such fascists as Nigel Farage, Tommy Robinson and Danny Tommo allowed to openly stir up race riots? Not much would have happened this week were it not for these public figures weighing in and urging followers to action. There are 👉🏼existing👈🏼 laws for this type of sh...

• Post #2800509

  Carnage edges closer. "While some cling to the promise of an AI “renaissance”...the cost of adoption is proving a stubborn bottleneck. These developments also suggest that the economics of replacing or augmenting human labor with AI may be more complicated...That echoes what Bryan Catanzaro, vice president of applied deep learning at Nvidia, recently said in an interview with Axios. “For my team, the cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees,” he said." https...

• Post #2800508

  Fellow nerds. A neighbour has an exceptional talent for retrieving retro tech from skips, flea markets, car boot sales, house clearances etc., for resale. But strong as his gut instincts are for what might be worth something to a collector, he's not particularly tech-savvy. He's just vibing it based on nostalgia. If I were to give him a list of prize items to look out for if they're in good condition, what would you suggest should be on it? Please share for reach!

• Post #2800507

  You'll say "no-one told us" and "we didn't know", despite following activists such as me - and I ain't even close to being the best at this, only a stalwart - and you being told again and again. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You will. That's what you'll say.

• Post #2572614

  This vid was put together by Amnesty UK and ripped from Insta by a friend.

• Post #2400975

  Reform's election success is likely to give a boost of confidence to Tommy Robinson supporters, so it's really important that the demonstration commemorating the Nakba and condemning the far right is as big as possible. This is a demonstration uniting the Palestine and anti-racist movements so please do come if you can.

• Post #2133885

  It seems that Richard Dawkins can no longer pass the Turing test.

• Post #2076704

  Because Farage is himself an incorrigible racist, who wants to bring Trump-style mass detention and deportation to the UK. "Reform UK has repeatedly refused to provide any explanation to Byline Times for why...Nigel Farage, met and posed for a photograph with a group of far-right activists including a man who went on to be criminally convicted for violently storming an anti-racism meeting at a church – an offence that took place two weeks before the picture was taken." https://byline...

• Post #1843091

  Some of you may remember the viral footage of an attempted lynching in Manchester of a man of south Asian heritage at a far-right rally. The violence was broken up by police, who promptly arrested the victim. Well, for your viewing pleasure, here is the fascist thug who tried to kick the man in the head while he was already on the ground, finally being arrested at a protest in Nottingham on Sunday. His name is Lewis Johnson from Long Eaton. We were there. Be a shame if you shared this widely.

• Post #1745422

  I can't be the only Brit who's deeply ashamed that King Charles is making a state visit to the USA. It's embarrassing enough that we still have a monarchy, in this day and age, without the King indulging a petulant psychopath who has threatened to invade allied nations and rolled out the red carpet for Putin. What next, a banquet with Kim Jong Un?