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
That we are now seeing warnings about a potential #measles outbreak in #London tells you much about the state of the UK
Misled by charlatans, some have decided not to have their children vaccinated over the last decades (perhaps hoping that normal herd immunity would allow them to free-ride on #vaccination programmes, or perhaps thinking the risks from measles or other diseases were so low as to make the miss-conceived danger of harm of greater importance?)
Its a little like #Brexit isn't it?
Who the hell hires a Lamborghini to school kids who are presumably only about 17 or 18 YOA. Most car hire companies won't hire a Mini to anyone under 21 let alone a Lambo!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
I hope y'all can read this link. It's a heartbreaking description of one small business - a small press - and the catastrophic effects of the worst economic crime ever perpetrated against a country by its politicians.
#UKPolitics #BrexitBrokeBritain #SmallBusiness #SmallPress #Bookstodon #FuckTheTories
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1679441618221387776.html
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Paris to charge #SUV drivers higher parking fees to tackle ‘auto-besity’ - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/11/paris-charge-suv-drivers-higher-parking-fees-tackle-auto-besity great idea - everywhere should do the same if they don't ban them outright...
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Poorest people in UK poorer than Anywhere ELSE in Europe
Dr Clare Gerada, president of the Royal College of GPs, said: “The poorest people in this country are poorer than any other counterparts in Europe . . . and it’s poor diet.
“The most common reason a child under five has a general anaesthetic now is for dental care, so that’s a sign of malnutrition.
“This isn’t about the health system, it’s about the social determinants of ill health, indicative of the last 15 years of austerity.”
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
One of the biggest habits that humanity has to kick is that of seeing a human-free space and assuming it’s worthless/empty unless we fill it up with something. It’s happening with plans for the ocean, deforestation for “development”, talk of delivery drones filling the future sky, cube sats that will hide the stars. This “space” is the planetary engine, and it’s incredibly valuable NOW. doing all sorts of things that keep us alive & enrich our lives. We should protect it. #ocean #climate #Earth
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
It’s time the politicians opposed to our well-being stopped condemning Just Stop Oil protests. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2023/07/09/its-time-the-politicians-opposed-to-our-well-being-stopped-condemning-just-stop-oil-protests/. Just Stop Oil are following in a wholly appropriate tradition of protest which was the only thing that delivered almost every social change from which we now benefit.
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
"Donations from foreign powers are a significant threat to the UK’s national security and undermine the integrity and credibility of our democratic processes." This is what Lord Carlile said in the House of Lords, where he moved an amendment to the National Security Bill to require tougher checks on foreign donations to political parties. But the government is set to block this move, despite evidence of Russian and Chinese interference. Why? Find out more in this article:
https://bylinetimes.com/2023/06/22/lords-demand-political-parties-launch-tougher-checks-on-foreign-donations-but-ministers-set-to-block-move/
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Cartoonist Guy Venables and other cartoonists plan to repaint the mural Jenrick ordered removed. Asked what would happen if the cartoonists repainted the mural and the government ordered it removed again, Venables said:
"We will be cartoonists for a lot longer than Robert Jenrick will be in mainstream politics, so we'll paint it back on. If they paint it over, we'll carry on. It's all you can do about this kind of evil."
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
"Swedish Authorities Charge Greta Thunberg With the Crime of Disobeying Cops"
We ALL should be disobeying cops and risking arrest. That's the only option remaining to inspire real change.
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateAction #ClimateJustice
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Musk’s fury that the coders he sacked/forced out and then publicly disparaged are now working for a competitor is objectively hilarious.
Wow - apparently Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick said in 2011 she’d tried and failed to spike President Richard Nixon’s tea with LSD in 1970.
“I think Tricky Dick needs a little acid,” she later recalled thinking.
Just think how that might have changed to world!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
▪️“Shell is still trading Russian gas more than a year after pledging to withdraw from the Russian energy market.
▪️The company was involved in nearly an eighth of Russia's shipborne gas exports in 2022…”
▪️If this is a #sanctions #violation the #law should come down hard including seizing assets and #criminal charges against complicit management and board members.
▪️Make an example of them. Make their ships uninsurable. Make their shareholders howl.
#shell #dojnatsec #lloydbanks #BloodMoney #DoJ #SecState #potus
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
What's the matter? It's the same distance?
It occurs to me that Russia is going to have a very major problem after this war is over. Its economy relies to a truly enormous extent on selling its reserves of natural gas and crude oil but the world is very rapidly turning away from the use of such fuels, and rightly. OK, Russia does have enormous reserves of timber. The virgin pine forests of Siberia contain billions of cubic metres of prime building timber but apart from that, Russia has never been a manufacturing powerhouse it has never produced anything that the world really wants, with the exception of armaments. Even its armaments industry is under threat due to its own stupid policies as the world has witnessed the poor design and poor quality of the Russian arsenal used against the Ukraine with their tanks exploding like jack-in-a-boxes and the relative lack of sophistication of its other arms compared to western counterparts.
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
