Paul Brownjohn @Paulos_the_fog@social.cleverlibre.org
Retired software engineer & woodworker.
Anglo-francophone.
Detest tories. Subscribe to green, leftish radical politics but not to any particular political party!.
Love the EU and all it stands for, moreover, I spent the last 10 years of my career working at an EU agency.
Enthusiastic photographer, especially wildlife and most especially butterflies.
Slightly knowledgeable gardener.
Atheist; loathe almost all religions and pity the people deluded enough to follow them. I make exceptions for Buddhism as it isn't really a religion in the strictest sense of the word as it doesn't postulate the existence of any god, and Jainism which is the epitome of peace.
For anyone who is interested, my header photo is of the most stupendous sunset I have ever seen. On the right is the waterfront of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on the left is Thailand and in the middle, acting as the border between the two countries is the mighty Mekong river.
Joined Nov 2022
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Still perplexed about the large number of people from Germany and Austria who confuse "never again" with "never again but if this one country does it it's fine".
This is really personal for me having grown up in Austria (and having had actual Nazi grandparents) and I don't understand it.
Israeli politicians are using the exact same tone and language when talking about Palestinians as my grandfather did when talking about Jewish people. It's heartbreaking to have to hear this garbage again.
A university in the UK did a study on what separated highly competent businessmen who nevertheless didn't make a fortune from those who became obscenely rich. The answer turned out to very simple - luck!
Unsurprisingly, the successful businesspeople of my acquaintance didn't react that well to being told that!
Typical Luxembourg; a supermarket checkout operator who speaks 7 languages!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
In England, "booster shot" is spelled "borchestershire shot."
@mos_8502
Reminds me of my mother - her brother emigrated to Canada many years ago and she hadn't seen him since. He had settled in Toronto and was due to retire from his job as a technical college lecturer so she decided to fly over to visit him.
They had a couple of telephone conversations about their plans and after one of them, my mother proudly exclaimed that her brother had said that they would drove from Toronto over to Vancouver for a day out whilst she was there!
Errrrrrm????
I live in Luxembourg where there are thankfully most tills are manned by living breathing human beings. I'm retired and I live alone so I would miss the human interaction of going through a till with an operator. Not only that, I spent years and years perfecting my French and now I have retired, I never get to use it except at supermarket checkouts, so I'm one of the chatty ones!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
"There was a time when we looked to our politicians to heal divisions in society. Not to widen them. That point has long since passed with Suella and Rishi."
It's a very nasty disease prevalent in areas where the type of mosquito that carries it is present, spread by mozzies - it's called break back fever as it causes dreadful back and joint pain which can persist for months. It is however rarely fatal.
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
AFP: US approves first vaccine against chikungunya virus: drug regulator. #health
I never heard of it either. Here you go: https://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
At the end of the day, COVID-19 made people realize:
- They could work from home and that most offices are shitty places.
- Their job was really shitty.
- Governments could finance pretty much anything they wanted.
- Global warming could be stopped.
- The really important jobs were the ones that are the worst paid (nurses, for instance).
- Most governments are run by idiots, who are in the pocket of the wealthiest.
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
It's a busy night at Stonehenge as workers move the stones back one hour. #DaylightSavingTime #FallBack
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
I doubt there will ever be a political cartoon as accurate or timeless as this
Barbarity, Civilisation
René Georges Hermann-Paul (1899)
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
"We refuse the false choice between Jewish safety and Palestinian freedom; between Jewish identity and ending the oppression of Palestinians. In fact, we believe the rights of Jews and Palestinians go hand-in-hand. The safety of each people depends on the other’s.
We also call on governments & civil society in the US & across the West to stand up against the repression of support for Palestine.
And we refuse to allow such demands to be suppressed in our names."
https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/a-dangerous-conflation/
Yes, I eat quite a lot of it!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Open letter from members of the Australian Jewish community:
We as Jews in Australia, living on unceded First Nations lands, are still processing the grief, shock and trauma of October 7 and the weeks since. Many of us have lost loved ones, still fear for those held hostage, and all of us are mourning the atrocities committed by Hamas. Yet the violence that has continued to spill forth from that day, and the tragic murder of thousands of Palestinian civilians, is not, and will never be, the answer to our grief.
We as Australian Jews are calling for an immediate ceasefire. We demand that our Jewish communal organisations do the same.
Once violence enters into the world it can not be put back. It seeps into our minds, scars our bodies, and poisons the earth. As many of us know, we carry it for generations. The fundamental goal of this moment should be Pikuach Nefesh – the preservation of human life. We must have compassion and empathy for all victims of violence, not just the ones we know. There is no violent resolution to this conflict. There is no violent pathway to ensuring Jewish or Palestinian security.
1/3
Retired software engineer & woodworker.
Anglo-francophone.
Detest tories. Subscribe to green, leftish radical politics but not to any particular political party!.
Love the EU and all it stands for, moreover, I spent the last 10 years of my career working at an EU agency.
Enthusiastic photographer, especially wildlife and most especially butterflies.
Slightly knowledgeable gardener.
Atheist; loathe almost all religions and pity the people deluded enough to follow them. I make exceptions for Buddhism as it isn't really a religion in the strictest sense of the word as it doesn't postulate the existence of any god, and Jainism which is the epitome of peace.
For anyone who is interested, my header photo is of the most stupendous sunset I have ever seen. On the right is the waterfront of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on the left is Thailand and in the middle, acting as the border between the two countries is the mighty Mekong river.
Joined Nov 2022
