Ian Kenway @iankenway@qoto.org

#NewUsers now above 5000 per hour.

We are now higher than last week's rate. Mastodon is managing this surge so far. Some servers are lagging. Please be patient as systems administrators manage the situation. It may get worse given the Twitter news.

@mastodon.social, @mastodon.lol, @mastodon.online, @mstdn.social, and now @mas.to closed to new user registrations.
Quick Scan - Mastodon Larger Instances >>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hN-0bNfjaV7UTuLP6eudmXCNNPdeNQoFtbfcqxl4FFQ/edit#gid=0
Fediverse tracker >>> https://mastodon.online/@mastodonusercount@bitcoinhackers.org

#twittermigration

I'm happy that one of the voices I discovered on the birdsite, Annika Brockschmidt, is now posting here!

If you want to read excellent journalism about right-wing extremism and White Christian nationalism, I recommend to follow

@ardenthistorian

Well blimey. A conversation with a friend and a rabbit hole led me to this, possibly the best jazz interpretation of The Look of Love I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot. Theydies and gentlefolk, I give you The Dudley Moore trio 😍

https://youtu.be/DnaNhWd1kuc

An ICU Nurse created this wreath from Diprivan bottles which were used to sedate Covid patients prior to intubating & putting them on respirators - each had a "religious exception" to not be vaccinated. She kept the bottles to create this wreath & make an eye opening statement.

@dotsonapage
@freemo
I'm delighted by all the goodies and benefits I happened into on mine here at qoto. The starting text block is at 64K, which is huge in comparison to most, for example. The description page at https://qoto.org/about/more will give you a rundown, and I think you'll be pleased and surprised by the list of features.

Despite the recent enormous surge in activity and memberships, the server is still speedy (as is the administration). I've had zero trouble with any unpleasant characters lurking about. The management is pro-active in handling issues quickly. The underlying reason for its existence is as a science and science education instance, so there are many intelligent and well-spoken folks about.

Even though there are now over 25,000 users, the admin is reachable and responsive.

Hope you check us out!

Then again such social media companies are not, and have never been, a “public forum”. They are privately owned networks that have a single priority: harvesting profits. Primarily from selling their users’ information to those who which to target them. Everything else is secondary. They have shown that they cannot be trusted in any meaningful sense. We deserve much better.

'Lifelong' Tory Gammon Blasts Jacob Rees-Mogg Over Brexit 'Benefits' On Question Time

Which is nice…

https://apple.news/A2HOMpWaRTcqnJKjtwY_bSw

The temperature overnight dropped to -5 °C and so there was another hard #frost when I woke up as has been the case over the past few days.

The outside of the #windows of the #conservatory were covered with #ice #crystals which had formed an interesting pattern on the #GlassPanes.

#MyWork #MyPhoto #CCBYSA #DSLR #Nikon #D7000 #Autumn

“Cancel culture” is a derogatory term for a demand for greater (or indeed any) accountability. It’s a semantical hemming in of dissent in a bid to preemptively “cancel” politics or arguments or movements with which you disagree. It’s golden rule is that it’s always projection.

It all seems to be going wonderfully well for Twitters Beloved Great Leader Elon Musk, Within the space of a few weeks he has made Twitter a safe space for far right loons and conspiracy theorists, and shut down any dissenting voices. #twitter #elonmusk #mastodon

BBC News - Twitter threatened with EU sanctions over journalists' ban
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63996061

Elon has gone on damage control banning journalists. Any and everything related to me is banned. So much for free speech.

https://twitter.com/PatCorc2019/status/1603557576792309766?t=1O7OyRE2OM7hBlm_miNw6g&s=19

4093 more members signed up to Mastodon in the past hour! Most will be a bit lost here so please share this site with anyone looking a bit bewildered and welcome them to their new home. https://fedi.tips/

Happy Christmas

A Child’s Christmas in Wales (1987) - This tale of enchantment is inspired by the classic poem from Dylan Thomas.

Ironically, mostly filmed about as far away from the sea as you can get in Wales!

https://youtu.be/9BTSQYdBuZY

Rishi Sunak says nurses' pay offer appropriate and fair https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-64003276
Graph below compares MP’s salaries, not including the expenses they’re allowed to claim nor the income many have from second jobs, with Nurses’ salaries over the last 12 years……

More than 1 in 10 #species could be lost by end of century, study warns | Cop15 | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/16/more-than-1-in-10-species-could-be-lost-by-end-of-century-study-warns-aoe

#Biology #Ecology #Biodiversity #Wildlife #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Animals #Plants #Extinction

While I wouldn’t say I’m a great fan of #cycling when it’s barely above freezing, it does have certain likeable features. For a start I hardly sweat and the wind chill factor certainly wipes away any sleepiness and you can forget your other problems for a while. On the down side, my fingers and toes soon start to feel numb. Today is very #sunny and so I had the rather incongruous pleasure of wearing #sunglasses in #December.

#Bike #Biking #Bicycle #Cycle

I am a retired nurse since 2006.
I worked for 12 years in A&E followed by 29 years as a Nurse Practitioner in General Practice.
It was pressured then but we have now had 12 years of austerity, Brexit, COVID 19 and whatever the Westminster Government claim about all these extra nurses. Where are they?

"This was how one nurse in her 40s described an Accident and Emergency (A&E) department to me, and it sounded all too familiar."

https://theconversationuk.createsend1.com/t/r-e-tjdllyuk-odriktudyt-r/

#NHS
#Cymru
#Wales
#YesCymru

Tell the Prime Minister to cancel the new climate wrecking coal mine. https://act.gp/3HgJd8c