@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

KimSJ

@KimSJ@mastodon.social

Escapee from Twitter, and now from home.social too. 🫤 Tofu-loving woke ex EU citizen. Retired hi-tech entrepreneur, once focused on future cities/buildings, climate & UBI, now keen on saving the planet and democracy. I dream of the day when I can return my focus to my first loves.

If you don’t like #politics, you probably shouldn’t follow me. 😁 Though I do also have a #creative side, and I'm a #maker too.

he/him

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

juliancday, to random
@juliancday@writing.exchange avatar

Google Zero Is Here: Now What?

https://www.theverge.com/24167865/google-zero-search-crash-housefresh-ai-overviews-traffic-data-audience

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@juliancday The more Google abandons its core function, the more fragile its business will become. A classic case of killing the golden goose, perhaps?

CelloMomOnCars, to climate
@CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

"Rightwing NZ government accused of ‘war on nature’ as it takes axe to policies

Government of Christopher has made sweeping cuts to climate projects in its first budget, with no new significant environmental investments"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/30/rightwing-nz-government-accused-of-war-on-nature-as-it-takes-axe-to-climate-policies?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@CelloMomOnCars Oh, New Zealand, what are you doing? You used to be my last hope for sane humanity. 😢
Sadly, another example of the …
https://mastodon.social/@KimSJ/110967143741456851

GottaLaff, (edited ) to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

#BREAKING 💥🔥 #WOMPWOMP #WOMPAGE

TO REPEAT, #TrumpTrial

#TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS!!!!!!!!

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@GottaLaff ❤️

KimSJ, to random
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

I’ve just identified why I have been feeling down over the past few days. Instead of being excited at the prospect of an election that will end the Tory misrule, I find myself just staring down the barrel of five years of Tory lite.
This country could be so much better than it is, if only we had a Government worthy of the populace.

ChrisMayLA6, to environment
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

So the Environmental Agency, is embarrassed to reveal the true state of our environment...

They find it difficult to answer prescient questions from NGOs with significant expertise (the implications being, better informed that the EA staff) & (it would seem) would like the NGO's Q.s to be more simply put to help EA staff offer better answers?

If you wanted a picture of a failing regulatory agency this would be it....

#environment #regulation

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/24/uks-environment-agency-chief-admits-regulator-buries-freedom-of-information-requests

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@Simon318ppm @zleap @ChrisMayLA6 Indeed. Regulators must be empowered to levy fines which make failing to meet obligations massively uneconomic. Without that power, regulation has no teeth.

ChrisMayLA6, to climate
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

So while you & I might think its necessary to speed up the Green Transition & enhance/accelerate measures to reduce emissions, Shell's shareholders disagree.

The firm has just sought & obtained agreement from investors to slow down its measures to mitigate its environmental impact & reduce progress towards its own (already weak) climate targets.

More reason(s) the fossil fuels sector cannot really be central to climate response(s).

We don't have the time to slow down!

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@Mary625 @IveyJanette @GhostOnTheHalfShell @Npars01 @ChrisMayLA6 And the really dumb thing is that instead of wars between countries we could if we chose to have a ‘war’ on climate change with the same boost to the economy.

sundogplanets, to random
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social avatar

I am definitely very very ready to go home and not be in a big city anymore. I know at least one person at the conference who has tested positive for covid, and I hope hope HOPE that my careful masking and eating outdoors has been enough to avoid catching it. Ugh I never want to go to a conference again.

I slept badly again. Time to venture out and find food and immune-boosting vitamins and coffee, then 3+ interviews and maybe I'll actually get to watch a few conference talks today...

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@sundogplanets Attending any event after testing positive (or even just having symptoms) is the height of irresponsibility. I would not have been able to stop myself making a scene.

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@sundogplanets @WTL Just bad luck then. 😢 I suppose it’s all the others one has to worry about. And apparently the new variant can be infectious and asymptomatic for up to ten days before symptoms emerge, which is terrifying.

QasimRashid, (edited ) to random
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social avatar

Tomorrow morning I'm publishing my article on the epidemic of child marriage in the United States.

You can subscribe here to receive it at 8am CST: https://open.substack.com/pub/qasimrashid/p/america-has-a-child-marriage-epidemicand?r=fyvxf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Without googling—how many documented child marriages do you think have happened in the USA since 2000?

KimSJ, (edited )
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@QasimRashid Further evidence that it is a myth that America is a mature democracy. ’Land of the free’ my arse!

KimSJ, to random
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

Time and again, I find myself asking whether politicians are deliberately trying to destroy everything that used to make me proud to be British, or whether they are just too dumb to see what they are doing.
More interestingly to explore, perhaps our political system is so desperately in need of reform that it is impossible for MPs to do the right thing, even if they want to?

jmeosbn, to random
@jmeosbn@mas.to avatar

A great article on the GOP’s Phoney War on antisemitism, and its enlistment in a very real and wider campaign against democracy.

— ‘Foer and Bash are right that American democracy is imperiled. But as the draconian crackdown on non-violent student protests makes clear, accusations of antisemitism are not themselves evidence of liberal decline, but rather the tip of the spear in a frightening illiberal project serving the agenda of an emboldened, autocratic right wing.’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/11/us-university-protests-antisemitism-free-speech

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@jmeosbn It’s bullshit to equate every scintilla of criticism of Israel as ‘antisemitic’. To the extent that Israel is criticised more than other countries with similar human rights records, it is more to do with pro than anti. As many Jews and indeed many Israelis feel, we expect better of civilised people. And, rightly or wrongly, the morality of the Gaza conflict feels clearer than with other current conflicts.

axbom, to random
@axbom@axbom.me avatar

Does anyone know of an email service, add-on or tutorial that allows for mimicing the one feature that intrigues me about HEY e-mail: opt-in for receiving emails from someone.

i.e. the default would be that someone who is not yet an approved sender ends up in a separate inbox where I have to confirm if I want to keep receiving email from them or not. I think HEY calls this ’the screener’.

Or if you’ve tried this fature and don’t like it, that would be cool to hear about as well.

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@axbom I think you could set this up on most platforms, albeit with a little faffing about… regard your inbox as the pending tray. Create a folder for approved addresses, and set up a rule to move incoming mail from approved addresses to that folder. Then just add new approved addresses to that rule. Certainly possible to do that on thunderbird, for example.

dangillmor, (edited ) to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

Boeing's incompetence strikes again, with yet another delay in launching a crewed spaceship. (Boeing co-owns ULA, which makes the rocket.)

The other co-owner is Lockheed Martin.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/boeing-scrubs-starliner-crewed-launch-rcna150843

Note: Getting a lot of pushback, and the comments are reasonable.

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@dangillmor To be fair, I regard detecting an issue and reacting correctly to it as competence, not incompetence.

ChrisMayLA6, to journalism
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

Something to ponder on Saturday afternoon.

here's the ever interesting David Allen Green on why regulating the press/media may be easy to demand but is (now) much more difficult to achieve.

For this of us who see the control of the media & what its owners do with that control as a key problem for the UK's democracy, this is what one can call a 'sobering read'!

@davidallengreen

https://emptycity.substack.com/p/on-how-regulating-the-media-is-hard

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@davidallengreen @ChrisMayLA6
Content is hard to regulate, but making media platforms responsible for content they promote may be a credible option, especially in conjunction with a law making it a crime to deliberately or recklessly mislead the public.
A lot of the problems with social media are related to the widespread dissemination of outright lies. A legal approach that made platforms cautious about what their algorithms promote would go a long way towards detoxifying social media.

br00t4c, to ukteachers
@br00t4c@mastodon.social avatar

UK university courses on race and colonialism facing axe due to cuts

https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/05/uk-university-courses-on-race-and-colonialism-facing-axe-due-to-cuts

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@br00t4c “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana
In this case, that’s probably what the defunders are hoping will happen.

ChrisMayLA6, to random
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

UK universities continue to be best by crisis, with more rounds of redundancies, courses being closed & financial crisis gripping more & more universities.

Russel Group data suggests universities lose around £2500 for each UK student registered, a loss which until the recent drop off, was made good my a cross subsidy from international students.

We used to have (in some cases still have) world class universities, but like so many other things, the Tories have poisoned the well.

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 The knock-on effects of defunding universities are widespread and serious. Shortages of teachers, good researchers, administrators, medical staff and so on, damage to our foreign-currency earning entertainment industry, not to mention the erosion of our soft power as foreign students decide to go elsewhere — including Russia in some cases.

QasimRashid, to random
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social avatar

BREAKING: House passes bill to criminalize criticism of Israel — a bill opposed by numerous Jewish groups, numerous Jewish members of Congress, and the ACLU.

My latest: https://qasimrashid.substack.com/p/breaking-house-passes-bill-to-criminalize

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@QasimRashid Unbelievable that 133 Democrats voted for this ridiculous nonsense. Congress is populated by morons, on both side of the political divide.

KimSJ, to internet
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

There is a very simple way to ‘fix’ social media, and that is to make platforms legally responsible for all the content posted on their systems. Yes, it would break the business model of such providers, but isn’t that what’s needed, given that they have consistently shown that they are using their power irresponsibly?

Edit: it has been suggested that legal responsibility should only apply to content “promoted” by platforms. That seems to be an excellent improvement.

mhoye, to random
@mhoye@mastodon.social avatar

Just a staggering engineering feat. Absolutely incredible.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/voyager/2024/04/22/nasas-voyager-1-resumes-sending-engineering-updates-to-earth/

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@mhoye I can think of no better argument for Right to Repair!

ChrisMayLA6, to feminism
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

We are still failing across the world to get more women into leadership roles in politics which itself stems for a failure to get more women into political careers.

Whether you believe women do politics differently, or whether you see this as an issue of gender representation, to be two decades into the new millennia & for this to still be the case tells us that patriarchy & male domination remain issues that has yet to be disposed of


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/22/global-elections-2024-women-female-candidates

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 I think the fact that women shy away from politics is a symptom, not the disease. The reasons women are put off also put off many men who would be excellent politicians, and are the same reasons that we have such a dreadful crop of politicians at the moment.
I myself was approached to stand as a candidate for Westminster, but there was no way I would put myself and my family through the kind of shit that MPs (or even unsuccessful candidates) have to endure.

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@lewiscowles1986 @ChrisMayLA6 So you don’t think constant death threats is a problem? Or continually being misquoted by a hostile media that doesn't care what lies it tells as long as it sells copy and/or clickbait? Being asked to deal with tens of thousands of constituents’ problems in addition to your responsibilities in Westminster? Having to commute long distances, or maintain two residences, and cope with anti-social hours. Overcrowded office space, no childcare, no proper HR… etc.

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Via Angry Staffer:

She thinks you should be forced to have your rapist’s baby.

Republicans in a nutshell, folks.
👇🏼Quote

Bash: You think there should be exceptions for rape and incest?

: I don’t think a tragedy should perpetuate another tragedy

Tommy Vietor:

Kristi Noem is considered a leading contender to be Trump VP pick. Here she says that women who are victims of rape or incest should be denied access to abortion services.

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@GottaLaff Rape is a crime. Turning it into an unwanted child is creating a huge and unnecessary tragedy.

CatherineFlick, to random
@CatherineFlick@mastodon.me.uk avatar

I was critical of the Cass Report earlier, talking about how discounting studies that weren't double blinded RCTs was bad form. Apparently Dr Cass has responded, saying that '"obviously" young people could not be blinded as to whether or not they were on puberty blockers or hormones because "it rapidly becomes obvious to them [...] But that of itself is not an issue because there are many other areas where that would apply"' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68863594

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@CatherineFlick @glyph The parts of the final report that I have skim-read seem rather muddled and rambling. Either she is not a good communicator, or she is not on top of the brief, or she has been confronted with evidence which does not accord with her preconceptions and she’s struggled to make sense of that cognitive dissonance. Plenty of people think it’s the last option, and that she’s pretty much a TERF.

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Via Kyle Cheney:

JUST IN: Rep. Bennie Thompson (former chair of the Jan. 6 committee) has introduced legislation that would terminate Secret Service protection for, uh, anyone sentenced to a year or more in jail.

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@GottaLaff FAFO!

WhyNotZoidberg, to random
@WhyNotZoidberg@topspicy.social avatar

Cybertrucks work as well as they look.

Like they're designed by a 6 year old that has never seen a car before.

KimSJ,
@KimSJ@mastodon.social avatar

@WhyNotZoidberg I have a theory that the cybertruck is the result of some totally pissed off and highly qualified automotive engineers finally cracking: “OK, guys, let’s give the idiot exactly what he’s asked for.”

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