@alexproe@mastodon.uno
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

alexproe

@alexproe@mastodon.uno

Resident in #Italy for years - am behind @newsfromitaly on X/Twitter and on Mastodon. Toot in English about #democracy, society and more. And I write short scifi stories, some of which appear on Thoughts from Italy on #Medium. Am interested in #politics and #geopolitics plus #technology and a few other things as well. I teach English, hold the odd webinar and do translations from time to time.

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Teri_Kanefield, to random
@Teri_Kanefield@mastodon.social avatar

I am going to answer this question for everyone:

https://mastodon.social/@timothyjohnson@mastodon.sdf.org/112349635246409685

My answer is here:

https://mastodon.social/

Remember:

There were possible crimes, but tax and reporting crimes are not election interference.

There is also a circular thing with Cohen and Pecker telling the court that they expected Trump to pay back the hush money payments.

If they expected to get paid back, it was a loan to Trump and not a contribution. Right?

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@Teri_Kanefield I read your article. Objective analysis as ever, but I came away wondering if Trump was right in claiming the case should never have been brought against him. You appeared to establish, from the facts so far available, that no laws had actually been broken.

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@joeinwynnewood Provided it can be proved that there was intent, the falsification of records could result in a guilty finding. We'll have to wait a bit longer for that to become clear. Same goes for the predicate crime aspect...we need to wait and see. But it could go either way. Before reading Kanefield's piece, I thought it was more clear cut. It ain't!

dwasmkuk, to Rejoin
@dwasmkuk@toot.community avatar

World’s largest food awards move judging panel from UK to Ireland to avoid Brexit red tape

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/26/worlds-largest-food-awards-move-judging-panel-from-uk-to-ireland-to-avoid-brexit-red-tape?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@RonInDortmund @Wen @FiveSeventeen @marcusjenkins @Lassielmr @dwasmkuk @Melinda @humanhorseshoes @Roadwarrior29 @JackTheCat @TCMuffin It might. I'm not sure where they get it. So far, so good. I drink much more coffee than tea nowadays anyway.

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@dwasmkuk Those benefits just keep on benefitting everyone apart from Britain! What a joke.

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@FiveSeventeen @dwasmkuk @Melinda @Wen @humanhorseshoes @Roadwarrior29 @JackTheCat @TCMuffin What did they expect? No longer being part of the EU means no longer being part of the EU. Simples unless you aren't too bright.

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@RonInDortmund @Wen @FiveSeventeen @marcusjenkins @Lassielmr @dwasmkuk @Melinda @humanhorseshoes @Roadwarrior29 @JackTheCat @TCMuffin A friend here in Italy gets Yorkshire teabags of Amazon. I can find PG Tips teabags in many 7-11 type stores all over Milan 🙂

GottaLaff, to Ukraine
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

🥳The US House has passed $95 billion in aid to , and , ending a political impasse. The Senate is expected to pass the package, which was negotiated with the White House, next week -Bloomberg

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@mastodonmigration @Eka_FOOF_A @GottaLaff Will never cease to amaze me how such an irksome excuse for humanity ended up as president of the USA.

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@mastodonmigration @Eka_FOOF_A @Isaac234 @GottaLaff Seconded. Trump is such a revolting individual. Some people are just born messed up.

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@GottaLaff Big stinky windy bottom won't be happy.

alexproe, to random
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

And so it begins. Suspected it might. Post , the unification of Ireland is the logical thing to do: and governments play down Sinn Féin’s calls for united Ireland | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/05/british-and-irish-play-down-sinn-fein-calls-for-united-ireland

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Whoever would have guessed?🤦🏻‍♀️

Conservative justices appear skeptical federal law requires emergency care

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/24/supreme-court-arguments-abortions-emergency-emtala/

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@GottaLaff Odd how "pro-life" doesn't apply to the lives of mothers, isn't it?

ChrisMayLA6, to money
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

Forced cashless society.

Our nearby small market town used to have 3 banks; they're all closed (taking their cash machines with them), and this week one of the two remaining cash machines was removed from the supermarket where it was located.

So, we're down to a single cash machine in an area with a radius (I'm guessing) of around 20 miles.

The cashless society doesn't represent consumer choice, its pace is being forced by financial institutions keen to charge fees on transactions!

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 In theory, cashless payments already save banks quite a bit of, er, cash, so fees should be coming down or, at the very least, staying the same. Cashless payments enable banks to save a fortune on physical cash management which is expensive - I know having been given figures by people who work in banks.

ChrisMayLA6, to Economics
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

If you've heard/read analysis that tips its hat to Karl Polanyi & his idea of the 'double movement' but have not been sure what is being alluded to, here (marking 80 years since his death) is a concise introduction to his life & thought.

Its only an introduction (there's a lot more to Polanyi that discussed here) but if you're interested in finding out more about this staple of critical political economy, this is a good a place to start as any.


https://www.socialeurope.eu/karl-polanyi-against-the-free-market-dystopia

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 Thanks for the tip. Found it on Amazon (ironically). Sounds as if it should be on the reading list of anyone thinking of entering politics. I wonder how many of today's politicos have read it. Maybe you could come up with a reading list for aspiring politicans? One toot at a time, maybe 🙂

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 Your expert input would no doubt enable the levelling up of legions of knowledge thirsty Mastadonians 🙂 Might even make the world a slightly better place too.

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 Ah ha, from the article: "Polanyi already associated markets with chaos and suffering" - seems to be what neoliberalism policies cause (Something I've recently concluded myself) - will read on.

alexproe, to random
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

scammer walks off with $25 million in first-of-its-kind AI heist | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/02/deepfake-scammer-walks-off-with-25-million-in-first-of-its-kind-ai-heist/

alexproe, to chrome
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

I recently swapped from Google's browser (over and concerns) on desktop and mobile to the browser. So far, so good. And Vivaldi plays well with Google Docs. Battery on mobile seems to be lasting longer too. I still haven't tried out Vivaldi's feature.

alexproe, to spain Italian
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

While touring #Andalusia in #Spain, I spotted a gleaming tower. Intrigued, I looked it up and found out it was the #Gemasolar Thermosolar Plant which can supply power to 27,500 homes and uses molten salt heat storage technology to keep generating power when there's no sun. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemasolar_Thermosolar_Plant - Perhaps #Italy could do with a few similar plants. #energy

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@marcusjenkins Interesting. Didn't know about the rooftop solar panel situation. Will hunt for solar energy stats. Comparing Italy and Spain (and a few other Mediterranean nations) would be interesting.

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

Wow! is no slouch in the solar generation department: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_thermal_power_stations - Sunny , on the other hand, is nowhere to be seen. Too busy wasting money on thinking about building a to , alas.

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

The EPA will require coal-fired power plants in the U.S. to virtually eliminate planet-warming pollution or shut down -NYT

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@GottaLaff This is great...but what about the people who earn a living from mining coal? Will they receive funding or retraining? This could be bad news for certain areas of the US and could cause people to vote for old smelly.

ChrisMayLA6, to ArtificialIntelligence
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

Katherine Maher (ex Wikimedia) sums up the problem with AI (at the other place):

“AI that benefits all humanity” without a single woman or person of color on the OpenAI board. Where have I heard this story before?

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 Take a look at the AI hallucination phenomenon. Wikipedia entry here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination_(artificial_intelligence) If you have a moment, let me know what you think about it.

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Via Kyle Griffin:

President is traveling to Racine County, Wisconsin today to unveil a $3.3 billion investment by Microsoft to build an AI data center in the state.

This is the same location where, seven years ago, touted a $10 billion Foxconn facility as the "eighth wonder of the world."
That facility never fully materialized.

alexproe,
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@GottaLaff Yet you've got idiots like Dan Bongino yelling that Biden is the worst president in US history, and, even worse, more idiots who believe him! Talk about dumb and dumber!

alexproe, to random
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

@GottaLaff FYI Gorsuch prior to SCOTUS. Don't know if it's genuine but looks like it. Via Birdsite. Might be an idea to email it to Gorsuch before (if) SCOTUS hears appeal on Colorado decision to exclude Trump from Republican primary.

alexproe, to spain
@alexproe@mastodon.uno avatar

is a lovely city. Lots to see, do, eat and drink. Am here for a few days while touring My first time in mainland and I like it a lot so far.

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