russellt

ben, 8 months ago to ai

"Microsoft's data centers in West Des Moines, Iowa guzzled massive amounts of water last year to keep cool while training OpenAI's ChatGPT-4. [...] This happened in the midst of a more than three-year drought, further taxing a stressed water system that's been so dry this summer that nature lovers couldn't even paddle canoes in local rivers." #AI https://futurism.com/critics-microsoft-water-train-ai-drought?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ianRobinson, 8 months ago to random

I subscribe to 2 of the 25 on this list. None of the top 5.

Joe Rogan is UK’s most popular podcast, new chart reveals | Podcasts | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/sep/23/joe-rogan-is-uks-most-popular-podcast-new-chart-reveals

russellt, 8 months ago to random

Do you think McDonald's has trademarked the term 'McShite'?

russellt, 8 months ago to random

Sympathy for the French, they are as deluded as the English! BTW they can have him!

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/09/22/charles-wraps-up-france-trip-with-enthusiatic-crowds-in-bordeaux_6138567_4.html?xtor=SEC-33281124

Deglassco, 8 months ago to random

Exactly 60 years ago, at 10:22 AM on a Sunday, 4 members of the Ku Klux Klan planted a bomb at the 16th Street Baptist Church, in Birmingham Alabama.The blast was so powerful that it blew a hole in the church’s wall, shattered windows, and caused damage to buildings nearby. It killed 6 children and injured more than 20 people. But why that church and that city? Read on.

1/

Image: Color poster of the four little girls killed in the 16th Street, Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham.

alveolar_thrill, 8 months ago to random

I would honestly love to know what BYU teach in their linguistics programs, especially historical linguistics

paul, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago) to random

US running low on laxatives thanks to surge in demand and TikTok weight loss GutTok trend

https://scrippsnews.com/stories/us-running-low-on-laxatives-thanks-to-surge-in-demand-and-tiktok-trend/

breadandcircuses, 9 months ago to environment

A teenager on Reddit recently posted this heartfelt plea...

---

I’m so afraid of climate change. I just turned 17 not long ago and I’m afraid I’ll never get to grow up because of the way our Earth is going.

Most of my friends and family are apathetic, such as my parents who don’t like me talking about this stuff since they feel we can’t really change anything. My mom thinks it’s completely irreversible. I hate holding it all inside all the time.

I guess what I really wanna hear is it’s all gonna be ok even though it’s probably not the truth. I’m just scared. I’d appreciate any positive news or insight from those who feel the same way and how you manage it while doing everything you can.

---

After seeing this, our Mastodon friend Steve Genco (@sjgenco) wrote a piece in which he offers some sound advice...

---

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about what to say to a teenager like this young person to help them prepare for the dangerous world they are about to inherit. I concluded the best advice I could give would be to suggest some questions they need to consider.

So here are four questions I believe any young person who wants to survive the 21st century needs to ask and answer for themselves:

💠 What predictions can you rely on?

💠 What will give your life meaning?

💠 What skills and values will you need?

💠 How will you live?

---

Steve then suggests thoughtful and helpful answers to each of those questions, at some length, before concluding with this...

---

Like a long-distance runner, you must prepare yourself in mind and body to confront the challenges and dangers ahead.

The world you will be facing in the 21st century will be unlike anything humanity has faced before. Survival will require flexibility, resilience, and preparation. Preparation means engaging: learning, practicing, and sharing. Your most important immediate task is to find others who share your views and are equally committed to surviving the 21st century. Build communities of resilience and resistance to fight inertia and business-as-usual. Organize and engage in political action, even if your efforts seem at first to be achieving little.

---

I hope you will read Steve's whole excellent article and also perhaps recommend it to others, especially those who are young or might have contact with young people. These are words they need to hear.

FULL ARTICLE -- https://archive.ph/2Yqad

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateAction

russellt, 9 months ago to random

Let's make this the biggest, peaceful demonstration of support for Scottish Independence ever!

BlackAzizAnansi, 9 months ago to random

A white supremacist nearly shot up an HBCU today and ended up killing three Black people but I can barely find any discussions about this going on in the fediverse. This is what I'm talking about.

breadandcircuses, 9 months ago to anarchism

If you'd like to learn more about #degrowth, especially the theoretical underpinnings of the idea and its relation to #anarchism, I recommend reading the in-depth blog article linked below.

Here is a brief bit from the beginning...

---

The concept of degrowth is really quite simple. It is, at its core, just the reduction of society’s overall metabolism to a level consistent with biospheric boundaries through pathways that prioritize societal well-being. That’s really it.

It is not austerity, recession, or eco-fascist population reduction. In fact, it’s a shift away from the current orthodox socio-economic worldview to one where those descriptors don’t even really make sense because the evaluation of societal well-being has fundamentally changed.

---

FULL ARTICLE -- https://nishikantsheorey.substack.com/p/prefiguring-degrowth

#Capitalism

Stoat, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago) to random

If you're in #Rutherglen then keep an eye out, dodgy folk spotted in the toon, one of them an associate of Jeffrey Epstein. Do not approach! Instead, calmly open your fav camera app, snap a pic and post to social media to warn others.

#Labour #Epstein

simon_brooke, 9 months ago to random

I've been going along quite nicely the last few days and quite suddenly - within the last half hour - I've hit an absolute wall of depression. Normal coping strategies aren't working just now.

russellt, 9 months ago to random

Kid Starver is as unpopular now as he has never been before, across all age groups. It doesn't auger well for the GE for Labour as long as they follow his policies.

https://skwawkbox.org/2023/08/13/starmer-disliked-by-all-age-groups-poll-finds/

Stoat, 10 months ago to random

1. A song with a colour in the title

Roni Size, Reprazent - Brown Paper Bag

#30DaySongChallenge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwI0gbGEyuI

russellt, 10 months ago to random

Please consider signingthe petition against this potentially horrendous development on the banks of Loch Lomond:

https://greens.scot/FlamingoLand#main-form

Stoat, 10 months ago to trans

"Attacks on charities that support trans inclusion are accelerating, forming part of a wider climate of hostility towards charity campaigning.

In signing the pledge, charity leaders committed to unite against this hate and offer support to those attacked. They stated that the sector must remain a safe place for all trans and non-binary people to work, volunteer and seek support."

#Trans #LGBTQ #Quakers

https://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/quakers-in-britain-pledge-to-stand-with-trans-community

thisismyglasgow, 10 months ago to glasgow

The former British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) building on Buchanan Street in Glasgow. Built in 1970, this is one of the newest additions to this street. It was designed by the legendary mid-20th Century architectural firm Gillespie, Kidd and Coia.

This is a building which won't be to everyone's taste, but it does seem to blend in with the rest of the street, despite being a very different architectural style.

#glasgow #architecture #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowbuildings

Stoat, 10 months ago to edinburgh

This Is Rigged sprayed Charlie's portrait at the National Portrait Gallery and glued themselves to the floor.

"The people are mightier than a lord".

https://www.thisisrigged.org

#ThisIsRigged #Edinburgh #Environment

LauraKT, 10 months ago to random

Huge update about the Trump indictment 👇https://normalislandnews.substack.com/p/donald-trump-to-be-arrested-for-borrowing

russellt, 10 months ago to random

CAMPAIGNERS have launched a petition aiming to put a halt to plans for an 8000-acre private “playground” for the mega-rich on the shores of Loch Tay.

It comes after US firm Discovery Land Company (DLC) made clear its plans to turn Taymouth Castle, the neighbouring Glenlyon Estate, and properties in the nearby village of Kenmore into an exclusive club for super-rich members.

https://www.change.org/p/protect-loch-tay

LauraKT, 10 months ago to random

Nobody expected this policy blitz from Labour 👇

https://normalislandnews.substack.com/p/labour-leader-launches-unexpected

russellt, 10 months ago to random

Italy's right-wing government is intent on undermining the safe passage of refugees across the Mediterranean!

https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-news/2023/07/14/aid-groups-rescue-ship-held-indefinitely-in-italy-leaving-migrants-with-increasingly-few-options/?__s=dc2x9t2wr7pxu17xrbrh

russellt, 11 months ago to random

A unique event to support Scotland's independence from the UK. Sign-up for this if you can and boost too! Let's make this a massive statement!

https://www.thenational.scot/news/23643767.chain-freedom-scotland-organisers-call-supporters-register/