Steve Hammett @bitflips@qoto.org

"The only dangerous minority is the rich"
Pasteups in NYC

#Solidarity with University of #Kent academics who were told a few months ago their jobs were safe, only to told now, they're not.

#UCUrising

https://www.change.org/p/keep-your-promises-kent-university-no-compulsory-redundancies?recruiter=1309775166&recruited_by_id=5181f130-0471-11ee-8eb4-658d589ca0a2&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard

FYI - the marking and assessment boycott of #UCUrising is STILL ON. Our employers haven't budged, only 3 uni VCs have stuck their head above the parapets to call for talks, all the while students are seeing their degrees massively diluted as huge swaths of work goes unmarked.

6 weeks of this shit and still nothing. We fight on.

If you're into ebooks, @gutenberg_org just joined Mastodon! They have over 70,000 free ebooks, if you're not familiar with the site. https://www.gutenberg.org/

Office bastard organises Friday afternoon meeting https://newsthump.com/2023/05/26/office-bastard-organises-friday-afternoon-meeting/

True !

Work has to be publishable - I've struggled with ML applied to biology. CS reviewers want novel models, bio reviewers want novel biology. If you sit in the middle, both are disappointed.

The University of Cambridge has called on its own employer body, UCEA, to 'urgently' resume negotiations with UCU so that students can graduate.

The move, described as 'hugely significant' by UCU, was communicated via a joint statement signed by Dr Anthony Freeling, acting vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge and Michael Abberton, president of UCU's Cambridge branch. 

https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/12955/University-of-Cambridge-calls-on-employer-body-UCEA-to-re-enter-negotiations--end-marking-boycott?utm_source=Mastodon&utm_medium=Social&campaign=ucuRISING

#UCU #ucuRISING #HigherEducation #MAB #UCEA

UK University Marking Boycott

Cambridge Uni breaks ranks and concedes that the @ucu marking boycott "is likely to have a significant impact on students at Cambridge and across the country."

Cambridge uni shows leadership and calls for the @ucea1 to restart negotiations with @ucu

https://twitter.com/CambridgeUCU/status/1660559258348339202

#UCURising
#UCU

I am deeply disturbed that Carole Cadwalladr has been ordered to pay Arron Banks more than $1 million after he sued her for defamation over a single TED Talk. A truly absurd ruling. https://rsf.org/en/uk-allocation-costs-banks-v-cadwalladr-sets-chilling-precedent-public-interest-journalism

There must be reform to protect journalists and anti-corruption activists from the type of onslaught Carole has faced.

Join me in donating to her crowdfunding effort: https://www.gofundme.com/f/democracy-the-fight-back/donations

We live in a world where Lynyrd freaking Skynyrd once did a song extolling the virtues of gun control. LYNYRD freaking SKYNYRD. If you've never heard the song, go look up the lyrics - not a lot of room for taking things out of context.

As a culture, we've made a lot of progress in a lot of ways, but I yearn for a day when people (especially politicians) put decency and humanity before political pride and arrogance.

Good sense, innocence
cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things
I can't define
Occasions, persuasions
clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints
the color of time
Who cares
what games we choose
Little to win
but nothing to lose
John S. Carter
Tim Gilbert
Strawberry Alarm Clock
18 May 1967
#popmusic #PsychedelicRock #1960s

Apparently when I said I wanted to see Les Misérables someday, I should have clarified that I did not mean "unfolding on the streets around me in real time".

NICE https://www.gofundme.com/f/9um7y

SCIENTIST JAILED FOR 27 MONTHS OVER PEACEFUL PROTEST!

SR co-founder & human rights #activist Mike Lynch-White sentenced to 27 months today for peacefully disrupting production of military components made in the UK and supplied to #Israel with @pal_action. The justice system serves the interests of the powerful by imprisoning the peaceful, brave people who stand up to injustice. This sentence follows that of 2.7 and 3 years for Morgan and Marcus from @JustStopOil. [1/n]

If you're rolling your eyes at the number of political posts in your feed, keep in mind that we're at the tipping point of authoritarianism here in the US (and other countries). For example, a political party is deciding whether women live or die in childbirth. The stakes are high, and we'll post about it.

I try to balance my posts with politics and lighter stuff. When it's a politics-heavy day, that balance may tilt toward the political end. But I"m not going to ignore reality altogether.

I don't know why my girlfriend and I have so many pictures of us going apple picking. We spend very little time picking apples. It is a rare occurrence. Anyway, happy nine years to this gorgeous girl.