fkamiah17

ChrisMayLA6, 8 days ago to random

The HoC Public Accounts Comm. has concluded the civil service lack both skills & capacity to property oversee infrastructure projects contributing both to the evident delays & budgeting problems.

Civil servants have become too reliant on outsourced expertise (consultants & the contractors) for evaluation, with the state no longer able to act as an 'intelligent client'.

The Tory attrition and politicisation of the civil service has (and is having) sigficant detrimental impact.

#infrastructure

ChrisMayLA6, 8 days ago to Futurology

Just in case you'd forgotten that the water utilities have been pumping sewage into our waterways on a regular basis, United Utilities have been found (again) pumping sewage into Windermere.

Not only that, strangely they did exactly the same thing the year before... its almost like they'd prefer to pay dividends & enhance executives' pay than actually fix the problems in their infrastructure.

#sewage #water #lakedistrict

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv266nqq48xo

RichardJMurphy, 8 days ago to random

We have found the limits of the digital world. There is still a need for human beings. HMRC should acknowledge the fact https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/15/we-have-found-the-limits-of-the-digital-world-there-is-still-a-need-for-human-beings-hmrc-should-acknowledge-the-fact/ HMRC is failing the public. It’s doing so by choice. It’s refusing to talk to people who want help. It’s trying to make them use digital services instead, and they refuse to do that. Maybe, just maybe, what HMRC has actually discovered is that there is a role for human beings after all.

Heliograph, 8 days ago to random

good morning mastonAUts our internet is back up hooray :awesome: :ablobwavereverse: #maau

DarkGalloway, 8 days ago to Scotland

Torthorwald Castle, near Dumfries.

#blackandwhitephotography #Scotland

ChrisMayLA6, 8 days ago to climate

Once again, the UK has the potential to be at the forefront of an innovative industry - the technologies that will foster/accelerate the move to net zero & underpin the green transition.

However, if you're familiar with the history of British technology enterprises over the last 100 years, you will (perhaps rightly) know to expect this advantage will be squandered by a lack of investment, short-termism & the preference of financial services to invest abroad.

#climate

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/15/uk-has-competitive-edge-on-a-third-of-green-products-thinktank-finds

ChrisMayLA6, 8 days ago to feminism

More evidence that gender diversity is not only an issue of fairness but also an issue of efficacy.

Building on studies in other sectors that have shown diverse teams produce better results, new research into surgery show gender diverse teams in operating theatres enhance patient recovery from operations & reduce complications.

The more balanced the team, the better the result - suggesting gender parity in the (health) workplace has clear benefits!

#gender #feminism
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/15/hospital-surgical-teams-with-more-women-improve-patient-recovery-study-finds

strypey, 8 days ago to random

"... ads for a Brian Tamaki church event showing a boy carrying a severed head - an apparent reference to David and Goliath - and bearing the tagline 'Time to kill'."

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516805/brian-tamaki-s-destiny-church-notice-with-time-to-kill-tagline-extremely-concerning

Wow. That is extremely concerning. But imagine these people are perched on a ledge about to jump, and likely to injure or kill members of a crowd gathered below. The only viable response is trying to talk them down. Attacking them will make them more likely to harm others, not less.

ChrisMayLA6, 8 days ago to random

Of course it was going to happen;

when Brexit border checks, charges & subsequent import 'friction' met government IT procurement, the likelihood of further delays at the birder for perishable imports was always high; and so it has come to pass.

The Govt. is claiming these are teething problems, but we can assume it will only be a short time before they attempt to shift the blame to importers & freight firms claiming they were insufficiently prepared

#brexit #borders
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/15/brexit-border-it-outages-delay-import-of-perishable-items-to-uk-by-up-to-20-hours

ChrisMayLA6, 8 days ago to nuclear

Another bit of Brexit related attempted policy cherry-picking comes unstuck.

The UK would like to continue to be part of the world's largest nuclear fusion experiment (based in the EU).... but the EU is now insisting that this can only continue if the UK rejoins the bloc's Euratom research scheme.

Once again the UK hopes it can knit together a bespoke research collaboration, but it seems the EU has lost patience with such 'special arrangements'.

More Brexit hubris

#Brexit #nuclear

h/t FT

KayJanes, 8 days ago to random

Back in the 60's & 70's, when I was a rural kid, my family lived in an area that became a "bedroom community" bc it was on USA's I-5 freeway abt 40 mins from a metro area. During my years in public school, there were frequent "school levies" the local citizens voted on. Which meant every other year, something else was trimmed from our education: swimming lessons, field trips, librarians, teachers, etc.
That's when I learned to HATE those who wanted to "trim the government they did not need".

KayJanes, 8 days ago to random

https://www.pbs.org/video/going-local-1715723804/

fkamiah17, 8 days ago to USpolitics

FFS 🤬

"Biden Moves Forward on $1 Billion in New Arms for Israel
The administration notifies Congress of a large arms package after withholding shipment of bombs last week"

#USPolitics #StopArmingIsrael

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/biden-moves-forward-on-1-billion-in-new-arms-for-israel-844b761c

mondoweiss, 8 days ago to Palestine

The Palestinian resistance factions have regrouped in northern Gaza and are launching an offensive against Israeli forces, hoping to disrupt the ongoing invasion of Rafah.

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/05/why-the-israeli-army-is-invading-northern-gaza-a-second-time/

#Palestine #Israel #Gaza
@palestine @israel

KayJanes, 8 days ago to random

Huh ... interesting ....

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1100535/share-of-female-dentists-in-the-us-by-state/

KayJanes, 8 days ago to random

How's that Neil Diamond song go?
"Warm
Touchin' warm
Reachin' out
Touchin' me, touchin' you
Sweet Veee-nus..."

kim_harding, 8 days ago to climate

2023 temperatures were warmest we’ve seen for at least 2,000 years https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/this-past-summers-heat-was-an-extreme-outlier-in-past-2000-years/
Northern Hemisphere temperatures well beyond natural variability seen in tree rings.

#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

KayJanes, 8 days ago to random

#GiftLink
[The Washington Post]
https://wapo.st/44FXqVW

art_history_animalia, 8 days ago to random

A fine-looking friend for #TurtleTuesday, found on fol. 98v of British Library Sloane MS 4016 (Tractatus de Herbis), Lombardy, Italy, c.1440.
https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beastgallery104656.htm

kim_harding, 8 days ago to random

Android’s AI era includes eavesdropping on phone calls, warning you about scams
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/google-wants-ai-to-listen-to-your-phone-calls-detect-scam-callers/
A scammer says "transfer the money in your bank account," but Android is listening.

Is this actually something that people want? I wouldn't' be happy with Android listening in...

kim_harding, 8 days ago to random

Google makes it a little bit harder to find deepfake porn amid backlash
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/05/downranking-wont-stop-googles-deepfake-porn-problem-victims-say/
Delisting non-consensual deepfake porn on Google is "draining," victim says.

bobjmsn, 8 days ago to history

Photo of the Day

‘More popular than Jesus.’

A big decline in church attendance was making news in Britain in March 1966 and twenty-five-year-old John Lennon commented on it during a long, rambling interview.

"Christianity will go.

“It will vanish and shrink.

“I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right.

“We're more popular than Jesus now.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/look/p/photo-of-the-day-724?r=12u3ju&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

#history #photography #music #religion

bobjmsn, 8 days ago to random

Normal Island News

UN worker dies from unknown causes after bullet-sized holes appear in window
Figuring out the cause of death may prove a significant challenge

In the chaos of Rafah, where civilians with one leg are evacuating on crutches and the IDF are doing everything they can to preserve civilian life, a UN aid worker has sadly passed away, and another has been injured, after holes mysteriously appeared in the vehicle they were travelling in.

https://open.substack.com/pub/normalislandnews/p/un-worker-dies-from-unknown-causes?r=12u3ju&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

#NormalIslandNews

KayJanes, 8 days ago to random

Finally remembered to snap a photo of these crazy carrots