Your 'doom quote' for today: "With a broken planet, we will have no gay rights, no feminism, no respect for trans people, no attempt at fairness and justice for people of colour. What we will have is a fight to survive and a lot of violence." www.amazon.com/This-Not-Dri...

I just love this …

Un-presidented brass band at city hall in Portland tonight celebrating the release of their clarinet player from federal custody

If you are watching the Reform Party controlled Councils with their endless mishaps, resignations, fallouts, scandals, mismanagement and sheer comedic idiocy, but still thinking of making these clowns a national government, representing the UK on the global stage, you are literally insane.

Climate Crisis: UK warned to prepare for 2°C warming by 2050 www.channel4.com/news/climate...

Delighted our (Vikki Jones, @ingepanneels.bsky.social, Frauke Zeller, @melissaterras.bsky.social & I) new paper "Creative Informatics: the role of ‘the university’ in Edinburgh and South East Scotland's creative cluster" is out now in City, Culture & Society! Read it here: doi.org/10.1016/j.cc...

“Mann announced his departure from the role on Sept. 29, citing tension between his science policy advocacy work and Penn’s institutional neutrality policy, which prevents the University and its leaders from making public statements in response to external events” Neutrality not optional currently

While Israelis celebrated the return of captives from Gaza, Israel warned Palestinian families against holding celebrations over the return of prisoners – some who had been held for decades. Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh explains.

Some thoughts on Zach Polanski turning out to be rather good at this politics lark. 1. By raising issues like wealth tax, and Brexit, he has not so much shifted the Overton Window, as re-opened the awkward loo window that over-looked the garden, but has been rusted shut for the last decade

‘Yet somehow, the party that arose from protest has formed, in terms of our rights to free expression and democratic challenge, the most illiberal government the UK has suffered since the second word war. This Labour government would have banned the labour movement.”

Ugh

High Noon in het Pentagon: vandaag verloopt de deadline waarop geaccrediteerde media een nieuwe persregel moeten onderschrijven. Die stelt dat ze alleen door het Pentagon goedgekeurde informatie mogen publiceren. Media die niet akkoord gaan (lijst bijgevoegd) moeten woensdag hun perspas inleveren.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!! The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/

had the great privilege of speaking with Cory Doctorow about his new book Enshittification, how he came to coin the word on @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy, the myriad ways the concept has manifested throughout tech's modern history, and how he maintains hope that we may yet de-enshittify the commons:

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day!

Every day is a good day to point out that 92% of Reform's donations were found to come from figures and groups linked to the fossil fuel industry. @desmog.com

Extinguishing MLK's Eternal Flame is both outrageous and a hell of a metaphor for right now www.wsbtv.com/news/local/a...

Milankovitch cycles—infinitesimal shifts in the planet's rotational axis that allowed marginally more sunlight to hit the planet over millennia—repeatedly brought the Earth out of its ice ages. It was mad to think that 1.3C of heating in, like, a century wouldn't totally destabilize our climate.

Yes, it is. Don’t even bother trying.

Trump doesn’t like data. He wants investors, consumers, and everyone else to be in the dark, so he can lie without fear of factual contradiction. He can create even more of a fantasy world. He can pretend that he’s been wildly successful even when he’s been a terrible failure.

British veteran returns home after 'kidnapping' by Israeli forces during Gaza flotilla - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/british-veteran-returns-home-after-kidnapping-israeli-forces-during-gaza-flotilla

Plans to weaken protections for national parks will have ‘disastrous consequences’ say green groups Letter from 170-plus organisations calls on government to drop proposed changes to planning law www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I hope/pray this very flawed ‘deal’ from Trump that Hamas & Israel agreed to ends the genocide & famine & leads to a real ceasefire. But my biggest fear is there is nothing and no one to stop Netanyahu from resuming the genocide once they get all the hostages back and Trump has his Nobel Prize.

“Concepcion said he drew inspiration from Witness, a human rights media project co-founded by musician Peter Gabriel in the 1980s to help citizens document abuses on video. “That’s what I was thinking about when I built this — Witness for the immigration era.”’

I'm not an economist but seems worrying that the whole US economy is seven companies in a trenchcoat, passing the same $20 up and down

Astounding:

Greta Thunberg after being released #FreedomFlotilla

Mandla Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, was detained by Israeli forces during the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza. Activists reported mistreatment; South Africa demands his release. Despite international figures involved, mainstream coverage is limited… apnews.com/article/gaza...

Two of the most common climate misconceptions I see, even among knowledgeable folks, are that (1) most people aren't worried about climate change, and (2) if they were, they'd act. Not true! Data show (1) most people are worried, but (2) they won’t act if they don’t know what to do-and most don’t.

““I don’t remember anyone ever saying to us ‘oh I just don’t think we’re properly reflecting the Green Party view or the liberal-left view on this story” … “It was always just slanted in one direction – which was basically the nativist, authoritarian, Conservative direction.” Extraordinary.

'What if nearly all domestic waste could recycled into new items or, failing that, into aggregate which forms a substrate for new roads? ...Leeds is at the forefront of making this a reality, a recycling and energy recovery facility (RERF) based at Cross Green.'

Always worth remembering that the actions of the Suffragettes were often not 'peaceful': sustained campaigns of arson, vandalism & in some instances assault. If anyone tried that today they would likely end up in prison for a very long time. @rogerhallam.com got 5 years for attending a Zoom call.

This. Is. Brilliant.

Bravo:

RESIST‼️ RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES‼️ #TrumpEpsteinCoverUp

Do read all of this.

Greta Thunberg says she is being detained by Israel in cell ‘infested with bedbugs’

The naval blockade by Israel faltered as a boat got through and Gazans got to haul a bounty of fish. Imagine if the flotilla had been twice the size? Now what is Israel going to do with the European MPs & MEPs that it has kidnapped and jailed? The EU *must* respond.

Macron remarks are notable- some quotes: "We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies."

Appalling:

History repeats.

This article manages to name her husband before it names… her.

If you enjoyed this conversation, you'll really enjoy Russell's book 'VIP Lane' – available from our shop here: subscribe.bylinetimes.com/product/vip-...

This reminds me of an earlier post where the call to action was not to give up but respond to the onslaught of hate with indefatigable joy, humour and lack of fear (apologies for not citing source as can’t find it again)- this speaks to that: In the UK we also have the wonderful @ledbydonkeys.org

so the US government just forced a tech company to delete an app it doesn’t like, which is totally normal stuff www.404media.co/iceblock-own...

Great news, but my energy prices have been going up for at least two years now: substantially increased daily rates as well as cost per unit. We are stuck in a system that is rigged in favour of fossil fuel prices and so in real terms this clean energy revolution fails to materialise for consumers…

50 doctor who had visited Gaza were asked about children shot in the head. Most (35/50) had seen it themselves… …and some reported a single bullet to the head as being the only injury on the child.

BREAKING Global Samud Flotilla THREAD 🧵👇🏼 The GSF is in international waters outside of Gaza. 40+ ships, 500 activists from 44 countries, w food & medicine for Palestinians. Israel has captured & arrested 4+ ships. In violation of international law. Protests have erupted across Europe. 👇🏼

“It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.” ― Jane Goodall 💙 RIP to a real one. My childhood hero