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
C'mon - let's be hearing from you!
Indeed not, compare Luxembourg with Scotland! Much smaller than Scotland with few or no natural resources - a tiny land mass and a population of a mere 650,000 and YET - it's the richest country in Europe with one of the best healthcare systems in the world, an educational system that sees all its children leaving school speaking at least Luxembourgish, German, French and English all fluently, free further education, one of the absolute best state pension systems in the world, salaries, benefits and pensions all index linked to inflation, the highest statutory minimum wage in Europe...shall I go on?
Israel seems to be preparing all out for a ground invasion of the Gaza strip. Am I the only person who thinks this is a trap. Nobody knows how much weaponry Hamas has succeeded in smuggling into Gaza but given the number of rockets they are loosing off into Israel it is clearly quite a lot!
The Israelis will go in with tanks en masse and the simple way to turn a tank a liability rather than an asset, is to blow one of it's tracks off - a small buried explosive charge combined with a copper knife will do that easily!
Given the extremely well supplied and well organized efforts demonstrated by Hamas so far I think the Israelis are walking into a trap!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
In the middle of an international crisis
There is no Speaker of the House — because of Republicans.
There is no confirmed head of the Navy — because of Republicans.
There is no confirmed head of the Air Force — because of Republicans.
MAGA makes America weaker. Disgusting.
Jacob Rees-Moron wants the UK to abandon the metric system and return to using prehistoric imperial units. I'm interested to see what people's opinion about this is please vote and boost!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
For MPs industrial action is about to get very close to home, as #HouseofCommons security guards have voted to #strike partly the result of an intensification of rosters, partly due to staff shortages (party caused by long-term sickness).
I wonder what the #Tories think about these workers & what measures they'll be willing to take to 'break' the militancy?
Is having security guards angry at you the recipe for a safe working environment at Westminster... I suspect not!
Obviously, the events in Israel and in Palestine absolutely ghastly but I found it deeply chilling to hear the Israeli defence minister describe the Palestinians as “human animals” as that is precisely the kind of dehumanising insult that was levelled at the Jews in 1930s Nazi Germany! What is that old saying: “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”
The Israelis have treated the Palestinians appallingly ever since the 1950s and it's been getting worse not better. A friend of mine remarked that the Israelis have taken everything from the Palestinians, they confiscate their land without compensation they bulldoze their homes to built homes for settlers, they murder them and their children and finally, they have taken the only thing the Palestinians had left; hope!
Whilst I would never condone the kind of slaughter perpetrated by the Palestinians on the residents of Israel, I can understand it. The Palestinians have literally nothing to live for so it is understandable if instead they choose to die for their cause and take as many Israelis with them as possible. A people without hope and without a future is a very, very dangerous people indeed!
I live in Luxembourg in which the default language is either Luxembourgish or French. My English language apps come up in English and my local apps in French. I don't know why a mobile phone would seek to translate stuff that you have chosen to see in a different language - it makes no sense whatever!
For the last 10 years of my career, I worked at the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (bit of a mouthful, eh) and whilst there I met an American who asked why the EU still have translators when Google Translate can do it automatically. I tried to explain to him the world wars would be starting if the EU relied on Google for its translations but I could not convince him that Google Translate was absolute dog-wank compared to the output of a highly trained professional translator!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
I think you should state at the beginning of your post that you are in the USA - most of the rest of the civilized world has healthcare that serves the patients not the shareholders of obscenely profitable health insurers!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
I would dispute that as I can smell alcohol on someone's breath whether they have been drinking lager or vodka or any other alcoholic drink
The coffee in Luxembourg tends to be in the majority, light roast, but I am definitely more on the dark side!
When I lived in Eastbourne in Sussex, UK, back in the 1970s, we used to have a branch of Importers Tea and Coffee store. There you could get named beans from specific places. Our favourite at the time was a blend we devised ourselves 50/50 Java (a strong Robusta brew) and New Guinea Gold. I have never been able to get the New Guinea since - it had a really long tail - a delicious after-taste that lingered on the palate for 15 or 20 minutes.
To me most modern coffee tastes of nothing - a bit like supermarket tomatoes!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Long Covid doesn't exempt those people who are "American from strong stock" nor do the cardi-vascular effects!
The medical profession has now established that Covid is not a respiratory disease but a cardio-vascular disease with respiratory symptoms and the damage it has done the the health of the population may take years to become evident, but it will! It certainly will!
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
