Paul Brownjohn @Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
Retired software engineer & woodworker.
Anglo-francophone.
Detest tories. Subscribe to green, leftish radical politics but not to any particular political party!.
Love the EU and all it stands for, moreover, I spent the last 10 years of my career working at an EU agency.
Enthusiastic photographer, especially wildlife and most especially butterflies.
Slightly knowledgeable gardener.
Atheist; loathe almost all religions and pity the people deluded enough to follow them. I make exceptions for Buddhism as it isn't really a religion in the strictest sense of the word as it doesn't postulate the existence of any god, and Jainism which is the epitome of peace.
For anyone who is interested, my header photo is of the most stupendous sunset I have ever seen. On the right is the waterfront of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on the left is Thailand and in the middle, acting as the border between the two countries is the mighty Mekong river.
Joined Nov 2022
Is it possible to block an instance oneself?
Measles also completely wipes your immune system so you are then prey once again to all the infections to which you had acquired immunity up to then!
I agree - refusing to vaccinate you children against measles should be classed as child abuse - no exceptions for religion or other such nonsense!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
@jeffgilchrist I was a kid before the vaccines for measles and rubella were available, so I've actually had measles and can vouch for everything in this thread. I've never been as sick as I was when I was six and had measles. The fever, the headaches, the upset stomach, I was very ill for about a month. It took me years to fully recover and I still came out the other end with balance problems (inner ear damage) and arrhythmia. Not getting your child vaccinated should be considered child abuse.
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Reminder !
Tackling air ventilation and PPE can protect against other infections as well as Covid-19. An influenza B virus (Yamagata) - has not been seen since 2020 when Covid measures were brought in. Flu vax components now being revised accordingly to not include this lineage. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(23)00697-7/fulltext?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=81fbbcb95d-briefing-dy-20240306&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b27a691814-81fbbcb95d-52117944
@TimWardCam @KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6
Yes, I fear this is true. East Sussex county council acquired the power to regulate on-street parking in my sometime hometown of Eastbourne. They imposed on street parking charges over most of the town centre which did irreparable damage to tourism particularly day-trippers. The local borough council objected very strongly but were steam-rollered by the brain-dead morons at county hall.
By the time this was imposed, I was living overseas and, at the time no agreement existed to chase up parking fines outside of the UK, I used to park for free anywhere I liked, I acquired a vast pile of penalty tickets and never paid the arseholes a single penny piece!
Hmmmm - I have had examples of most common brands of printers and models right up the ones that print A1 sized prints from massive (very expensive) rolls of photo paper. I have consistently found the absolute worst to be Epson and HP. Both block their jets far, FAR too often costing a fortune in ink and in expensive photo paper!
Right now I have two Brother printers, a laser and an inkjet. The laser has been impeccable and the inkjet produces superb quality photo prints, has never once blocked its jets and only mentions in passing that I am using non-original inks!
If I have to replace either of them, I will definitely buy Brother again - no question at all!
@ottocrat @karlstanley @ianbetteridge
Even the Italians wouldn't stoop so low as to put bloody baked beans on a pizza!
Well they did threaten me with hell and damnation, BUT I am hearing reports that maybe Meta's programmers have screwed up BIG TIME (particularly funny as I used to be a software engineer) and the whole shebang is down - I do so hope so!
Wonderful! I have been locked out of Facebook (and Instagram) for calling out a racist; albeit in an extremely barrack room manner!
That's two time-sinks out of my life perhaps I shall get a bit more done now!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
(March 3, 2024)
Trump’s White House Was ‘Awash in Speed’
The "Medical Unit was “like the Wild West,” & staffers had easy access to powerful stimulants & sedatives"
In Jan., "the Defense Department’s inspector general released a report detailing how [Trump's White House] distributed controlled substances with scant oversight & even sloppier record keeping. Investigators repeatedly noted that the unit had ordered thousands & thousands of doses of the stimulant modafinil"
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-white-house-drugs-speed-xanax-1234979503/
Milk allergy: when I'm Grand Supreme Commander...
We have a supermarket chain where I live in Luxembourg called "Grand Frais" (it's a French chain that have 'invaded' Lux).
Hummus is normally a Middle Eastern dip made by blending chickpeas with tahini, garlic, and citrus - and I love it! However, the 'Grand Frais' version tastes of nothing and contains 'fromage frais' - unpressed cheese curd!
'Fromage Frais' has no place in Hummus, AT ALL and of course people who have an allergy to dairy may well think they are buying a dairy free product as the standard recipe for Hummus is completely dairy free, but that is not the case!
Consumer choice - like the Brits like being ripped off by banks
I have two Brother printers an A4 colour laser and an A3 colour inkjet (mainly for printing photos). Both have delivered stunning results, even with non-original toner cartridges/ink cartridges and, unlike an HP inkjet I used to have, it doesn't refuse to function just because the cartridges are not theirs!
I have owned more than a few colour printers and have found Brother to be, by far the best, so far!
I would recommend avoiding Epson inkjets as the jets on their printers seem to block so often! HP likewise plus the problem mentioned above.
I would have been quite tempted but for the astronomical price of this album!
22 Euros is way over the top for an album these days
Congratulations on taking a pic of the Taj that isn't the same as the one every single other tourist takes!
It's a real effort to find a viewpoint that isn't the cliché-ed one; mine was this
@Linda_R@ieji.de
It amusing me (I have a dark sense of humour) that back in the 1980s, India was claiming that it didn't have an AIDS problem (unlike the west) as its population were overwhelmingly moral and chaste. Whereas the reality was that they had a massive AIDS problem as in certain circles, it is considered normal amongst Indian men to pop into a brothel on their way home for a quickie in much the same way that western men pop into a bar after work for a quick drink!
Ordinarily, this might not be a problem as the obligatory condom would protect them to some extent but Indian men are extremely resistant to to using condoms, apparently, and thus AIDS spread unchecked across the India as, in order to make a living, women (and men) offering paid-for sex mostly have to forgo the use of condoms.
The Indian government only acknowledged the extent of the problem in the 2000s
was just about to buy some avocados yesterday when I noticed that they were marked as grown in Israel - no thanks - I will not support the Israeli economy whilst they are committing mass murder against Palestinian civilians.
Interesting that the Blair's Labour party did exactly the same before their landslide victory back in the 1990s
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
I keep seeing media reports about all the things proven to "lift your mood and improve mental health." I do not see similar media reports about all the things that grind people down and cause them to suffer.
Without enough money to live on, people get depressed. No amount of walks in the countryside are going to be able to counteract that one fact.
#MinimumIncomeGuarantee #CorruptToriesUnfitToGovern
#TheUKisFallingApart
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
George Galloway once asked the late Donald Dewar why it was that folk seemed to take an instant dislike to him. Dewar replied, "It saves time, George."
Retired software engineer & woodworker.
Anglo-francophone.
Detest tories. Subscribe to green, leftish radical politics but not to any particular political party!.
Love the EU and all it stands for, moreover, I spent the last 10 years of my career working at an EU agency.
Enthusiastic photographer, especially wildlife and most especially butterflies.
Slightly knowledgeable gardener.
Atheist; loathe almost all religions and pity the people deluded enough to follow them. I make exceptions for Buddhism as it isn't really a religion in the strictest sense of the word as it doesn't postulate the existence of any god, and Jainism which is the epitome of peace.
For anyone who is interested, my header photo is of the most stupendous sunset I have ever seen. On the right is the waterfront of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on the left is Thailand and in the middle, acting as the border between the two countries is the mighty Mekong river.
Joined Nov 2022
