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
Why should an independent scientist like @JeremyFarrar have to ask the permission of the health secretary in order to speak to a news outlet?
Kudos to Jeremy for continuing to speak out despite the pressure that was applied to him.
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Not every day is a bad news day when a tory supporter has to make some of their propagandists redundant
It seems simple to me:
because of Brexit, the UK supermarkets decided to switch their custom for some varieties of fresh veg from EU producers to non-EU producers, notably Morocco.
Morocco has experienced bad weather and production has thereby been curtailed.
At the same time, British growers were impacted by fuel costs to heat greenhouses absolutely spiralling out of control, resulting in many of them shutting down their growing operations due to the impossibility of making a profit at the margins that the big supermarket chains allow them (which are, in effect, next to nothing).
The current tory government have shown themselves to be totally useless at ensuring the Britain has food security as they twatter on about market forces being the answer etc etc. Meanwhile in mainland Europe there are no shortages whatsoever of fresh vegetables; the shelves are groaning under the weight of fresh tomatoes!
I live in Luxembourg and I can attest to this. The other day I did a quick shop in my local Aldi where there were 5 varieties of tomato in stock. Yesterday I went to my local Colruyt (a Belgian supermarket chain) where there were substantial quantities of around 10 varieties of tomatoes on the shelves!
Is Brexit to blame for the current empty shelves in the UK - well yes, for the most part, yes it is to blame.
Were präts like Rees-Mogg right about being able to save money on food after Brexit? Yes, of course they were - if there are no fresh veg, you can't really spend money on them, can you?
Can you imagine doing this in the USA where cars are king! If you made people walk or cycle, given the massive rate of obesity in the US, the heart attack rate would spiral out of control!
Thus far, the most sensible idea I have seen is in Luxembourg where the government have made all forms of public transport; buses, trams and trains, absolutely free! Just for the real pedants, I will add that there is still a modest fare if you wish to travel 1st class on the trains which I sometimes do as it generally keeps me away from people coughing!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
RT @martingilhooly
14 million Brits voted for this deceitful, corrupt slob. He didn’t suddenly become the deceitful corrupt slob, he always was. So those who voted for him are the real problem. Without them, he would have only fucked his own life up. Instead you empowered him to fuck ours up. Twats
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
This just in, for Daily Mail readers:
Sue Gray personally invented all the parties in 10 Downing Street,
She personally filled the suitcases with wine, broke the swing in the garden, puked on the carpet, sang all the karaoke, and incurred the 126 fines levied by the Metropolitan Police..
She did all this because Keir Starmer told her to.
Although technically, she was appointed by (*consults notes*) Boris Johnson -
because her independence was agreed to be beyond reproach.. 
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Mornin’.
#dandelions are vital early forage for queen #bumblebees emerging from hibernation.
Often times the only forage available in a degraded landscape.
And if you pause to look, really look, they’re gorgeous little bombs of yellow.
Bullied by those in the business of selling poisons and aspiration.
So don’t be an arse.
Don’t mow or spray.
Leave them grow.
Celebrate them!
Be #beepeople.
Pass it on.
Retoot for the #bees!
🙏🏼
savingbees.ie
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Starbucks fired 150 pro-union baristas and closed a dozen unionized shops.
Chipotle shuttered a store in Maine when workers petitioned for a union.
Amazon spent millions to beat back union organizing campaigns at its warehouses.
Common theme: they're terrified of worker power.
Yes, the inability to be satisfied with enough and to reject further acquisition is probably a very severe form of mental illness, but one that society has become distorted enough to laud!
The novelist Joseph Heller (of Catch-22) was once at a party hosted by some zillionaire. A fellow party guest asked him, “Mr. Heller, aren’t you ma...
Holy shit - I think I may be rather an outlier, in that case!
Is this in or out of holy wedlock? 🙄😆😇 --- RT @YouGov Among Britons who have had sex, the median number of sexual partners is 4 This figure is hig...
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Interesting - correlation is not equal to causation BUT this definitely merits further investigation
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
@firehorsemia @QasimRashid @kcarruthers
The practice of medicating women who live in horrific conditions continues to this day.
The FLDS, a fundamentalist Mormon cult, keeps most of its women on tranquilizers to prevent them from objecting when their sons are abandoned out of town & daughters are "married" off to men older than their grandfathers. Human trafficking is pervasive in this cult.
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
The upward redistribution of wealth over the past 40 years has shifted $50 trillion from the bottom 90% to the top 1%. That’s $50 trillion that would have gone into the paychecks of working Americans.
The greatest trick of all is trickle-down economics.
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
"Hello," Thomas said. He then paused and his face turned a dirty fiery red. "Wait, you're that prick who tried to fix his party and ended up breaking the UK." And Cuntamity Cameron never worked on the island of sodor ever again.
It must be one of the most misused French words that has migrated to the English language.
The word "chef" in French actually means "manager", "head", "boss", "guv'nor". So "chef de cuisine" simply means the manager of the kitchen, the cook in charge of the kitchen. The French word for someone who cooks food for a living, in a restaurant or hotel is "cuisinier" or "cuisinière" not "chef".
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
