Dave T-W @davoloid@qoto.org

A gen-Z told me today that his generation has largely accepted that they live in a plutocracy, everything is corrupt, and the Musks, Zuckerbergs, and Trumps are just a fact of existence. They accept it as SOP. It's pretty dark, and exactly what GOP wants them to feel: totally hopeless and disinterested in voting. If they let that despair keep them from voting in 2024, they will learn the hard way just how much more there was and is to lose. We need to change their minds. For their sakes.

** Do you want a free LTI TX4 Taxi? **

The time has come to get rid of my lovely* LTI TX4 taxi.

I have used it as a video conference room for the last couple of years, and it has been great, but I no longer need it.

I am very happy to give it away to a good home, a mediocre home, or indeed any home at all short of illegally dumping it.

It ran last time I drove it, but it won't pass an MOT as-is, and will need to be trailered away from Newbury, Berkshire.

HMU if you are interested.

*YMMV

CalcKey, MissKey, PixelFed, Lemmy, and Kbin too.👍🏿

"We can't increase the number of Black people in tech! It's too difficult!"

"We can't fight the power structures preventing college athletes from getting paid! It's too difficult!"

"We can't reduce the number of people killed by cops! It's too difficult!"

But we're doing all of these things. And we started by ignoring the dudes who said the above things.

The 1st step is "accepting the challenge." People working together can accomplish a lot.

The Rage and Joy of #MAGA #America https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/opinion/maga-america-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=ChYw-jqNslO3B0vgGDWDKEfjFaTJ5r6T7bNInUsS7tV0h-i9JmnzEr56zfiWiWOjlUSD2zB5rLgOp3_adA4XPqC3YuLxlJBvyhFtvHxXyoqEGt8eh17uiXW57SytTMieNzVnbnJNw_GHBtS_nNwBr3ji1nMfJ50QwE5K28rw-NCpp6C7-pvzT3KPWrLGIdgyContz0hdArDYDSPuW30K_y0oHmC3dcawaKJdflRto0JgCrYN1nQ2u4UkHC2Iwdb_sbxK0leC9OozoY5jk-QD6eMEj1i8AjsMg-g-FB0gnenfJDAd_8i5FEdHyaUXt3zkAFPbnTqvg__WoHu5&smid=nytcore-android-share

'while countless gallons of ink have been spilled analyzing the MAGA movement’s rage, far too little has been spilled discussing its joy.'

By David French
H/t @anneapplebaum
No paywall

In 2013, as mayor of London, Johnson introduced the plan for ULEZ. Today, he criticises Sadiq Khan for implementing it. Otto English asks, does he think the public forgets so easily? The answer is yes to both. That's why every democracy needs that 4th pillar: independent media.

#Belarus camp offered to #Wagner - BBC's #Russia editor, Steve #Rosenberg visits (and leaves with more questions than answers)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66140699

#tgif

Kiddo visited the Royal Society Summer #Science Fair today, on the rest of the weekend. Missed her hero Helen Sharman who was there yesterday, but got to do some robotic microsurgery and learned about rovers on Mars.
#London

https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/summer-science-exhibition/

Experts panic over Florida tourism as major conventions flee state’s 'unfriendly political environment'

Convention organizers are pulling out of Florida, which is devastating knock-on tourism and causing panic over the future of the industry, experts warned in a report Friday.

When asked for a reason why they were scrapping plans, one organizer wrote simply: “Governor DeSantis.”

More than half a dozen planned conventions in Broward County, which encompasses the Fort Lauderdale area, have been scrapped in recent months, according to a list drawn up by the county’s tourism promotion group Visit Lauderdale and reported by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

#USPol #Politics #News #Florida #RonDeSantis #DeSantis #GOP #Alternet

https://www.alternet.org/experts-panic-over-florida-tourism-as-major-conventions-flee-state-s-unfriendly-political-environment-2662247798/

Robert Jenrick's a piece of work, isn't he?
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/07/robert-jenrick-has-cartoon-murals-painted-over-at-childrens-asylum-centre

Folks, the reason #Facebook/#Instagram/#Meta/Zuckerberg hasn’t launched #Threads in the #EU isn’t because the EU is determined to protect your privacy, it’s because the EU is determined to protect The Single Market (peace be upon it) from anticompetitive behaviour. It’s because they’re using Instagram to launch Threads and sharing data between them (and not with any other EU startup that might want to use that data). It’s #antitrust, not #privacy. It’s markets, not people.

#DigitalServicesAct

@womenknowhistory Trying this again as the last post seems to be unsharable (Mastodon noob - can you tell?!) Coffee drinker and cultural historian working on women in the Haitian Revolution. Research website at www.fanmrebel.com where you can find out more (in English and Haitian Kreyòl). Last year I was mainly on mat leave but mounted 2 blue heritage plaques on buildings in the U.K. - former dwellings of Marie-Louise Christophe, first and only Haitian queen 👸🏿 #Haitianhistory #histodons

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/07/twitter-is-burning-bluesky-is-smug-where-is-the-best-place-to-do-your-pathetic-doomscrolling

#FirstDogOnTheMoon #TheGuardian #Twitter #Bluesky #Threads #Mastodon

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic

I'm looking for people who may be willing to be in my study, looking at:

1. autism running through families,
2. events/factors causing trauma to us & their long-term effects.

If you're interested or want to know more, msg me!

To explain, I'm not on any program, but preparing a research proposal to present to some universities🤞

I'd love to talk ideas, possible participation, with anyone interested, all informally for the moment.

Tks for reboosts too 😊

1/ A Russian religious conscientious objector with a one-year-old child has been sentenced to nearly three years' imprisonment for refusing a mobilisation order. The case illustrates how Russia's laws on conscientious objection are being ignored by the state. ⬇️

⚡️What Foreign 'Experts' Miss About Ukraine.

This Wired article (https://www.wired.com/story/ukraine-war-trucks-trolls-tourniquets/) gives a true account of why Ukraine has held back the second army in the world since February 2014: Community.

Russian Nazi regime successfully branded Ukraine's ground-up volunteer battalions as far right. Yet, they're the ultimate expression of ground-up, crowd-funded, and successful community defence.

Russia didn't sign Minsk 1 in September 2014 as a Goodwill Gesture.

1/