@peterbrown@mastodon.scot
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

peterbrown

@peterbrown@mastodon.scot

Volunteer director of community wind company and new community distillery. Locally owned businesses are the drivers of development in the Hebrides. También soy guía turístico en Escocia desde hace muchos años.

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peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

“Remarkably, food production doubled under the agrivoltaic system. And because water evaporation from the plants cooled the panels, the solar system itself generated 3% more electricity during the summer, showing how both food and solar production can perform better when done in collaboration”.

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/12/solar-and-crop-production-research-shows-multi-solving-climate-benefits/

peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

“The first thing I would say is that we’ve now lived in the deregulated system for 40 years. What we ended up with was a system that failed to achieve the things that the deregulators said it would. We now have a system that is less competitive than it was even during regulation. The top four airlines collectively have a larger market share now than the top four airlines did in 1977. This system of markets and competition has led to massive consolidation and concentration”https://hls.harvard.edu/today/airline-deregulation-may-be-why-flying-is-such-a-miserable-part-of-holiday-travel/

peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

Spain heading for a shorthaul flights ban https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/11/03/spain-has-proposed-a-ban-on-short-haul-flights-but-environmental-groups-arent-happy

ChrisMayLA6, to DigitalNomadHub
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

A new Shelter/National Housing Federation report argues that investing around £12bn on building 90,000 units would see a positive return within 11 years.

Getting people into homes would reduce benefits costs, save the money & more likely see those in proper homes (back) in . It would also, of course, boost employment in construction & associated trades.

The paradox for UK is while a long time horizon is acceptable for , for homes, not so much!

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6 @TCatInReality @enmodo @thepoliticalcat there have been innumerable trials of UBI: all of them successful. Check out @scottsantens

UBI produces negligible effects on employment activity, but can produce exponentially increased levels of entrepreneurship through business start-ups.

A side effect would also be much greater voter engagement leading to enhanced democracy

gerrymcgovern, to random
@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar

A key argument in buying SUVs is that they are safer. You may be safer inside but SUVs are killers.

In the USA, the chances of a pedestrian dying in a single-vehicle crash are 68% higher when that vehicle is an SUV or pickup.
A 10 cm increase in front-end height causes a 22% increase in pedestrian fatality risk.
The survival probability of women, children, and seniors are more strongly affected.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/01/higher-vehicle-hoods-significantly-increase-pedestrian-deaths-study-finds/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212012224000017

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke @gerrymcgovern it’s not just about mass. Cars and commercial vehicles in Europe are designed to hit the legs first, then throw pedestrians upwards over the bonnet on impact.
US pick-ups have a flat front which means pedestrians are hit in the chest and head, then bounce off downwards, falling underneath the vehicle which is still moving forward.
The chances of survival are minimal.

The high bonnet also makes it much more difficult to see pedestrians in the first place

peterbrown, to random
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Don’t forget, the government is subsidising fossil fuels, not renewables. That’s why we’re paying more for electricity than gas or oil.

peterbrown, to random
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“All the data shows that EVs are just much, much less likely to set on fire than their petrol equivalent,” said Colin Walker, the head of transport at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank. “The many, many fires that you have for petrol or diesel cars just aren’t reported.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/20/do-electric-cars-pose-a-greater-fire-risk-than-petrol-or-diesel-vehicles

peterbrown, to random
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Well, after that absolutely chilling interview with the Israeli ambassador on radio 4 a few moments ago I look forward to a Palestinian spokesperson being given the same very considerable radio time.

peterbrown, to random
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Quite simply, probably the most evocative memorial I have seen.

peterbrown, to random
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“An official at the Ministry of Intelligence confirmed that the ten-page document is authentic but "was not supposed to reach the media," Mekovit noted.”
https://new.thecradle.co/articles/leaked-israeli-plan-to-ethnically-cleanse-gaza

peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

On these dark evenings, please reduce your speed so that if you do happen to accidentally hit a pedestrian, at least hopefully you won’t kill them

scottsantens, to BasicIncome
@scottsantens@hachyderm.io avatar

We know how to solve homelessness, we just don't do it. Universal would greatly reduce and prevent homelessness. Land value taxes would tax land versus housing, increasing the housing supply and bringing costs down. We also need YIMBY reforms too to build more housing and lower costs.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke @scottsantens I don’t necessarily disagree- in Germany the local authority buys the land for housebuilding which has the effect of controlling house inflation, and in Vienna there is a very substantial stock of local authority owned housing for affordable rent, both of which are good models.

But the simple introduction of UBI I don’t think would make the current UK situation any worse than it is.

therightarticle, to random
@therightarticle@mas.to avatar

UK government has revealed that importers of animal products from the EU will pay £29 per type of item – such as an individual pack of cheese or sausage. The charges will be capped at £145 per shipment, and will start on 30 April, with additional checks in October.

Bonkers

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@therightarticle so forget your artisan German sausage, your French farm cheeses, your specialist Spanish jamón and your genuine Italian mozzarella.
Only very large companies dealing in mass production will be able to deal with these costs. So fine foods are out the window.

ChrisMayLA6, to Health
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

One more story from the NHS crisis.

To be clear, I don't blame the nurses & doctors in A&E who are encountering budget & capacity pressures that would make it difficult for anyone to do a good job.

As length of waiting times in A&E grow, so do deaths while waiting to be seen; but this is part of the crisis engineered by the Tories, not a managerial or staff training issue (which is not to say these have no impact).

The Tories health 'strategy' is killing us


https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/26/woman-found-too-late-under-coat-in-nottingham-ae-after-eight-hour-wait

peterbrown,
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@ChrisMayLA6 in some parts of the UK waiting times are being reduced. These are government policy decisions.

peterbrown, to Barcelona
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

After almost a century and a half, construction work on the Sagrada Familia in is finally coming to an end.

O sea que la obra ha durado bastante más que el Escorial 
https://www.tourism-review.com/construction-of-the-sagrada-familia-to-end-in-2026-news14289

peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

Is the quaich (cuach) unique to Scotland? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Which other countries have them?

https://www.robin-wood.co.uk/wood-craft-blog/2011/01/25/quaichs-the-real-history-of-the-wooden-quaich/

peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

From 1964

ChrisMayLA6, to Economics
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

Q. how much economic advantage does UK get by speaking english.

Other countries gain economic developmental advantage from the range of people with english proficiency.

So turning that around: does the UK's 'natural' speaking of English mask or reduce (some) economic deficiencies that would otherwise be problems?.

Thought experiment: if the UK did no speak the globe's second language what would be the implication for its economic development?


https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/Images/539681-perspectives-english-for-development.pdf

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 coming late to this discussion, but yes, English is a major factor in our economic survival, and no it’s not because of Britain . It’s because of America.

If the US had ended up speaking Spanish or German, that would be a the lingua franca by now.

And yes, English is an easy language to speak very badly and still be understood. Other languages have a higher bar to comprehension. There is actually a convincing theory that what is now spoken is actually pidgin Welsh with few rules.

peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

“Aid trucks containing food for a population starving to death have been targetted and destroyed, ambulances have been shot at with missiles and assault rifles, children have been turned to sinews streamed on social media, refugee camps have been bombed, and people waving metaphorical and extremely fucking literal white flags have been sniped at, killed, murdered, by (IDF)”

https://theshot.net.au/news/general-news/has-the-idf-slaughtered-enough-children-to-make-israel-safe-from-terrorism-yet/

peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

“As special rapporteur on Gaza for the UN, Francesca Albanese, and human rights lawyer Noura Erakat must frequently explain, Israel actually has no right to wage war on territory it occupies.”

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/03/doctors-justify-genocide-in-a-prestigious-journal/

pedestrians1st, to random
@pedestrians1st@mastodon.online avatar

Fascist incompetence in action “Spanish woman deported from UK after returning from Christmas holiday
Woman was detained overnight and removed despite presenting Home Office documents showing her right to work and live in UK”.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@pedestrians1st yes, and it’s no exaggeration to say that it would wreck their lives, because if they don’t get back to work, they’ll lose their job if they lose their job they can’t pay rent or mortgage and they’ll lose their house.
10 years later there will be a formal apology, but meanwhile your life lies around you in pieces….

fionaorkneynews, to random
@fionaorkneynews@mastodon.scot avatar

Continued Loss of Local Banking “will disproportionately affect the elderly, disabled and digitally excluded.”

Being able to pop into a local bank branch used to be very easy. For places where there wasn't one there was often a mobile banking service. The local bank is disappearing from many locations across the Highlands and Islands with customers either having to go to a larger town or rely on online banking. Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant brought the…

https://theorkneynews.scot/2024/01/13/continued-loss-of-local-banking-will-disproportionately-affect-the-elderly-disabled-and-digitally-excluded/

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@fionaorkneynews this whole post office saga should be formally brought to the notice of the banking regulator. If they can make mistakes with their own franchisees, who is to say they’re not making mistakes with account holders? How many post office account holders have had unexplained transactions going through their accounts? And bearing in mind what has happened to the postmasters, what hope for them to make a claim? 

pedestrians1st, to random
@pedestrians1st@mastodon.online avatar

Another sad example of a motorist getting away with it. Coroner Dr James Adeley said it was in the "interests of justice" that he named David Harwood in connection with the death of cyclist Dylan Crossey, 15. Harwood hit Dylan with his BMW while he was drunk and fiddling with his satnav. Dylan bounced over the top of his car but Harwood didn’t stop to help and Dylan died. Harwood got away with it. No doubt the police felt it was “just an accident”.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@Wen @pedestrians1st yup, and the natural corollary to that is that if a pedestrian is struck the culpability should automatically lie with the car driver, cyclist, or motorcyclist.

It follows the logic of the hierarchy of road users.

NormanDunbar, to random
@NormanDunbar@mastodon.scot avatar

If this was a Scottish ferry ...... 😉

BBC News: HMS Prince of Wales fails to depart for Nato exercises
BBC News - HMS Prince of Wales fails to depart for Nato exercises
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-68268560

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@NormanDunbar @Wen @Robbins unfortunately, the truth about the ferries is of sufficient complexity to render it almost untouchable by the mainstream press.
This is the most authoritative account I have seen and very well demonstrates the complexity of the saga. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n18/ian-jack/chasing-steel

ChrisMayLA6, to london
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

Its great for that TFL has again frozen fares for , but this is in stark contrast to the rest of & where Govt. 'intervention' has limited rises just under 5%.

What is needed is a range of bodies across the regions with similar powers to TFL & a similar outlook about the social worth of .

To adapt the old saying of socialism for the rich & capitalism for the rest of us... its a public transport for London & cars for the rest of us.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 yes, and transport for London gets absolutely enormous levels of subsidy

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