@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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simonvarwell, to random Esperanto
@simonvarwell@mastodon.scot avatar

Just stopped for a week off. Lots to do in the coming week (might even toot about it), but the holiday starts with a 12% imperial stout. https://untp.beer/edpGV

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@jbenjamint @simonvarwell I was wondering that myself. It’s stronger than some wines.

peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

What an unbelievably blinkered view of public opinion regarding the state of Israel. It seems they think that by banning TikTok they could make the Israel back into the good guys.
That ship has sailed.
As the International press and multinational aid organisations finally get access to Gaza Israel will have to prepare itself for a lot of very very negative press coverage and the Israeli government will have a lot of questions to answer.
That is not because of TikTok!
https://mastodon.social/@Properganda/112335628946150106

mondoweiss, to Palestine
@mondoweiss@social.mondoweiss.net avatar

Despite its claim that the goal of the war in Gaza is the elimination of Hamas, Israel's actions reveal its true intention: the collapse of Palestinian society

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/04/engineering-social-collapse-in-palestine/


@palestine @israel

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@mondoweiss @palestine @israel since Hamas as the ruling party have been in control of the government, the civil service, the health service, the education system, all the infrastructure of roads and communications, yes, attacking Hamas is pretty much attacking the whole structure of society.
Imagine if Russia decided to eliminate the Republicans in the USA ? Or the Democrats?

kim_harding, to fuckcars
@kim_harding@mastodon.scot avatar

Updating California’s grid for EVs may cost up to $20 billion
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/04/updating-californias-grid-for-evs-may-cost-up-to-20-billion/
Charging electric vehicles at home will exceed most power lines' capacity.

Your reminder that EVs aren't about saving the planet, they are about saving the motor industry...

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@kim_harding I know nothing about the California electricity grid. But I do know electricity demand more or less follows a sinewave and overnight demand is negligible. So set your timer to start charging at 9 pm and run till 7am and you actually help the grid, using otherwise unusable energy which would have to be dumped.
And in some parts of Australia the grid can actually tap into household and EV batteries at the peak half hour just after 8am so they can cope with the excess demand

CoinOfNote, to australia
@CoinOfNote@historians.social avatar

ANZAC day, the 25th April, is one of the most solemn days in , commemorating the first great battle Australia took part in as a nation - the storming of the beach in what is now known as "ANZAC Cove", Türkiye on April 25, 1915 as part of . stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the name for the joint force of the two young nations, forever joined in solidarity and mateship.

Lest, we forget.

@histodons @numismatics

Medallion featuring an army bugler playing "The Last Post" with "THE ANZACS" above and "APRIL 25, 1915" below.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@CoinOfNote @histodons @numismatics it took a man from Peebles to encapsulate the horror.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=waltzing+matilda+eric+bogle&t=iphone&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcnFzCmAyOp8

exchgr, to random
@exchgr@mastodon.world avatar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=451ycG3Ai_k

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@exchgr careless use of language however in describing it as a “crime scene”

But a quite incredible use of vast police resources for a relatively small number of protesters. How much will this have cost when they could have just left them overnight to get cold and miserable?

Demonstrates how students are the ideal vehicle of protest however, because amongst their number are the children of the establishment and they don’t want to cause them any harm.

simonvarwell, to random Esperanto
@simonvarwell@mastodon.scot avatar

This is extraordinary, and a damning indictment of land ownership in Scotland. How on earth can a private company be in a position to give a capital city’s main bus station notice of closure? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg302gkw779o

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@simonvarwell A huge missed opportunity. The oversized building being finished at Haymarket could have had a bus station on the ground floor. Part of the site cannot even be built upon because the railway tunnel runs below it.
That would have provided a hub with local buses, long distance buses, trains and trams all within 50 yards at Haymarket. I advocated it at the time, pointing out that the vast majority of buses leave towards the west, so moving from St Andrews Square would reduce traffic.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@simonvarwell @Glencoe the place for that would be the St Andrew’s Square Gardens which are owned by the adjacent proprietors

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@simonvarwell it was a massive vacant site on the old coalyards, and the line of the railway tunnel can be clearly seen in this old satellite photograph. It was begging for a bus station on the ground floor.
But now their shortsightedness has left the area with no further vacant sites.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@simonvarwell Waverley is gradually being abandoned by public transport.

The trams don’t go past it and no buses use Waverley Bridge. Gradually the public transport interchange for Edinburgh is becoming Haymarket.

However, Waverley could become a hub if North Bridge became a bus interchange, possibly even a bus station, with lifts linking it with Waverley station, especially if the trams are to have a southern extension.

Wen, to UKpolitics
@Wen@mastodon.scot avatar

Braverman dropping Windrush measures was unlawful, court told

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/23/dropping-windrush-recommendations-was-unlawful-court-told

The ‘defence’ by the Home Office is very revealing

Edward Brown KC, acting for the Home Office, said the department was not obliged to implement a policy “which it no longer considers to be in the public interest”. He said Williams’ “recommendations were not legally binding and there was no obligation on the government to implement the recommendations”.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@Wen no wonder people don’t trust the government

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@When horrendous.

KimPerales, to random
@KimPerales@toad.social avatar

is the envy of the world:

"The US economy is one of the only places in the world right now that's doing even better than expected before the pandemic began.

You don’t want immigrants? Then tell grandma she can never retire.

Immigrants are driving the US economic boom. The US has escaped recession, hiring growth has exceeded expectation, & inflation has cooled faster than predicted — all largely bc has boosted the size of the US labor force."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/23/immigration-jobs-economy/

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@KimPerales a few years ago when Germany took in more immigrants than any other country in Europe their economy responded by increased wage levels and increased economic activity

MadeyeTheCarnaptious, to random
@MadeyeTheCarnaptious@mastodon.scot avatar

is the final straw.

They can shove their "British values" and the Butcher's Apron up their hoop.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@MadeyeTheCarnaptious indeed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-FT3W-rXsA

ShredderLivesOn, to random
@ShredderLivesOn@mastodon.scot avatar

Wildcat Haven despite going bust in August and owing Andy Wightman £60,000 in legal costs are back in business.
Only due to UK business laws, they've been allowed to dissolve owing money, and set up again with a similar name.

It was Wildcat Haven Enterprises C.I.C that folded. Wildcat Haven Community Interest Company are under the law a new company, despite the similarity in name, and the same people in charge.
Namely Paul O'Donoghue and his wife.

Why did the BBC platform these known grifters?

image/png

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@ShredderLivesOn is there an argument for deploying the offence of fraud in this case?

fionaorkneynews, to random
@fionaorkneynews@mastodon.scot avatar

Clarity on Wood Burning Stoves Urgently Needed

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has written to the Scottish Government seeking clarity on the new building standards concerning wood burning stoves. In her letter Rhoda Grant has called for the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Patrick Harvie to provide detail on who can apply for exemptions to the ban, in addition to how the SNP-Green Government came to the decision on the ban and what impact assessments…

https://theorkneynews.scot/2024/04/23/clarity-on-wood-burning-stoves-urgently-needed/

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@Wen @fionaorkneynews I really don’t know why everybody’s getting their knickers in a twist about this. It only applies to new builds and doesn’t even apply to new extensions.

It would be utterly absurd if new builds did not have environmentally friendly heating systems

mondoweiss, to Palestine
@mondoweiss@social.mondoweiss.net avatar

As Passover begins, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is once again using the bible to justify genocide in Gaza as he compares Hamas to "Pharaoh" and promises to "land additional and painful plagues" upon the Palestinians.

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/04/netanyahu-exploits-passover-for-more-biblical-genocide-propaganda/


@palestine @israel

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@mondoweiss @palestine @israel mad bad and dangerous to know

peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

Apparently, Michelle Moan is not permanently out of the House of Lords, but merely suspended .

Has she been charged with fraud yet?

simonvarwell, to random Esperanto
@simonvarwell@mastodon.scot avatar

The joys of a rail replacement bus, and thus the loss of three and a bit hours of work time, for the final leg of my journey. Ah well, I may as well kick back and share some photos of the last few days…

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@simonvarwell the Road Less Travelled

simon_brooke, (edited ) to random
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

This summer there will three babies born here, one to a couple living in a shepherd's hut, one to a couple living in an old caravan, one to a couple who will be living in a yurt. This is us erecting the yurt.

In much of remote rural Scotland, people of child-bearing age cannot afford homes.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke your community would seem to be similar to that at Scoraig

quixoticgeek, to random
@quixoticgeek@v.st avatar

We're gonna start to see this a whole lot more in the coming years. Right to repair is great, but when software support ends, we're kinda screwed.

Avoid buying smart TVs. Consider something like a Chromecast attached to the hdmi port, at least then it's a lot less e waste when the Chromecast goes obsolete, and needs replacing.

Would also help if the likes of the EU required realistic support life's for the software on devices like TVs.

https://mstdn.social/@goldstein/112305383553682995

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@quixoticgeek bearing in mind how modern manufacturing techniques have brought the price of white goods and electronics tumbling down I’m not sure how that can be reconciled with right to repair. That’s not to say that it can’t or shouldn’t be; merely that I think it might be quite difficult.

thisismyglasgow, to glasgow
@thisismyglasgow@mastodon.scot avatar

I love it when I come across an old bootscaper still in place. This one, outside a Victorian townhouse in the Park area of Glasgow, is particularly nice, if a little bit worse for wear, and is nearly identical to the ones outside 10 Downing Street in London, the traditional home of the British Prime Minister. And before anyone asks, yes I really am geeky enough to have spotted this!

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@thisismyglasgow oh listen, some of us notice boot scrapers set into boundary walls or set into the stonework beside the door.
I presume it means that at the time when the house was built the road was still unmetalled.

peterbrown, to random
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

really needs to sort out their “pedestrian” street.
Fast, entitled drivers are common especially dropping or collecting friends.

image/jpeg
image/jpeg

Wen, to disability
@Wen@mastodon.scot avatar

Rishi Sunak to strip GPs of right to sign people off sick

http://archive.today/2024.04.19-062257/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-gps-sign-people-off-sick-ill-rr353jstv

GPs face being stripped of the right to issue sick notes, as the prime minister says doctors are too readily writing people off as unfit for work. Specialist teams linked to the benefits system will instead assess the sick and decide how best to keep them in work.

Be afraid, very afraid. Those will be the same private companies who have already stripped benefits with no due concern.

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@When you have to wonder where they get their “inspiration” from. Most normal people do not set out to deliberately trample the poor and sick in society.

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?

peterbrown,
@peterbrown@mastodon.scot avatar

@ChrisMayLA6  if publications can guarantee that none of their articles are written by AI and all are properly fact checked, AI could become the salvation of the mainstream media.

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