Apparently we're trying to cancel Orwell now. "Wow, this is some dystopian Orwellian shit" "Orwell was a misogynist though, I can't believe you take that stuff seriously" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/15/george-orwell-anna-funder-biography-of-eileen-o-shaugnessy/

Yet another reminder of the racketeering mafia we call government: I get a traffice fine in the post because I was briefly stationary on some yellow street markings. CCTV photos show another 5 cars doing the same thing as me at the same time. Was completely unavoidable since the markings covered a two lane main road for about 80 meters. Probably 1000s of cars fall into the same trap every day. Apparently I can get a discount if I give in and pay right away, otherwise it's £160, or £240 if I take longer than 28 days 😮 The convenience and financial incentive of just giving in is very tempting - kind of like a mafioso saying "let me make you a deal". The really evil part is that if I did just pay it I know it would encourage me to think that others who didn't pay, or fought it, were being unreasonable. An example of how the system turns us against each other.

Adviser to the Chancellor proposes taxing inflation 😂

Sorry everyone, BBC fact checkers have concluded that inflation is not a tax. We've all been wrong this whole time 😪

Would Labour tax meat? And other Conservative claims checked

Checking Conservative conference claims on HS2, inflation, defence spending, fracking and more.

Very clear example of why you should use GrapheneOS and keep location off. Police are issuing "Geofence warrants" and you could be falsely linked to a crime. This is EXACTLY why it's nonsense to say privacy is only needed if you have something to hide.

the Guardian

TechScape: How police use location and search data to find suspects – and not always the right ones

In this week’s newsletter: ‘Geofence warrants’ tied a man in the wrong place at the wrong time to a crime he didn’t commit – is he the on...

cc @ODELL @MetropleX [GrapheneOS] ⚡🟣 @gladstein

Fun side effect of using randomised VPN locations - wild variety of podcast ads 🤯

Lol, watching a video about propagating shrubs from their cuttings and they warn me about not doing this to plants which have intellectual property protection for breeders 😂 What a load of nonsense. Looks like I'll have a bunch of pirated shrubs & trees soon 🏴‍☠️🌳

This Booth & Gammon WBD debate is so frustrating! I just want to shake Jeff Booth and tell him to talk in the same language as George Gammon. Tell him WHY Bitcoin mitigates paper money, tell him WHY it helps prevent war in the first place. Booth just keeps saying "it's inevitable" 😅 and makes huge leaps of logic, without being specific (I agree with him but it makes it even more frustrating). I actually think Gammon is trying pretty hard to understand, but his reasonable (and easy) questions aren't being answered because these two are just on different planes. @Peter McCormack does a good job of trying to bridge the gap though. I'd love someone like @Lyn Alden or Parker Lewis to write a post script addressing some of the chasms of misunderstanding between these two.

Maybe a naive take, but I think Elon Musk is a net positive for free speech and questioning government consensus. All the stuff @ODELL predicts about Twitter is likely true, but I think it's complicated. The man is flailing about trying to monetize, and definitely has pressures on him from big banks (billionaires borrow against their assets in order to buy things) and the CCP (big Tesla market + supply chain). BUT, he's also a somewhat ideological and impulsive person who resents being told what to do. He amplifies non-consensus view points to a massive audience, and has probably been the catalyst for many to question the mainstream. Definitely don't get a blue check, and even better keep off Twitter entirely if you can (use #nostr obviously). But the other big tech platforms are way worse, and Elon has significantly helped to counterbalance mainstream media on a few important ideas.

Probably a really boring take ... I've been 95% working from home for 3.5 years now. I think it's a mixed bag, but probably net positive. Luckily I have the option of going into the London office when I feel too couped up and need a change of scenery. But, I still feel disconnected and distracted talking to many of my colleagues via Zoom most of the time - can't wait for a meeting to be over so that I can read some article I found while I was in the meeting 😅 But on the plus side, I'm forced to be much clearer in my written communication, and get to think things through more. And of course, I've got more family time and am usually up to speed on chores.

Was watching the Scorsese film about the Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder Revue. At one point Dylan says something like: "If a man's wearing a mask he's going to tell you the truth, if not ... well, it's less likely" That's why I love following nyms on #nostr 🫡

Interesting development: The DEI director where I work is starting to pivot away from cringe virtue signalling, and is now going all in on "inclusion" but with productivity as the motivation. No more free money, so these people are going to try and justify their roles on business grounds. Not sure how I feel about it. On one hand it's a positive shift in what narrative is valued, but on the other hand ... it's still mainly bullshit, just less obvious.

"It’s a basic human right to have a private conversation. This right is even more important for the most vulnerable people. If the U.K. uses its new powers to scan people’s data, lawmakers will damage the security people need to protect themselves from harassers, data thieves, authoritarian governments, and others. Paradoxically, U.K. lawmakers have created these new risks in the name of online safety."

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Today The UK Parliament Undermined The Privacy, Security, And Freedom Of All Internet Users

The U.K. Parliament has passed the Online Safety Bill (OSB), which says it will make the U.K. “the safest place” in the world to be online. In ...

Okay, time for some probably dumb and poorly ageing takes on the Russell Brand situation: - We're reading about it now because it's a circus meant to sell newspapers / clicks - However, seems likely that the sources/victims in the original revelations are credible .. but there's a wide range of possibilities for what really happened given how long ago it was and the situations in which they occurred - Regardless of the facts, it's amazing observing "the machine" turn on him: every newspaper demonising him and choosing unflattering photos; conflation of his anti-establishment views with his alleged sex crimes; YouTube demonetising him (first step); sponsors and colleagues turning on him to save face; already a documentary out; arch-lefties like Corbyn pandering to pressure to distance themselves before any allegations proved - Even if this ever goes to trial and he's exonerated, his reputation is now irreversibly tied to this and there will always be doubt - I don't think it's some kind of CIA-mainstream-media-axis-of-evil conspiracy, but I think reasonable to assume that the outlets who broke the story knew it would be a big deal and then prepared to cash-in by priming / coordinating other content Think I'm going to try and ignore the story from here on out and check back in a while. But, one final comment: even if these allegations are true, he has said some very important things about power that I agree with, and I hope his message is not ignored because of these orthogonal actions.

I wish more people had watched The Wire. Endless supply of analogies to explain how the world works.

Unpopular opinion: Inflation measures that exclude food and energy are actually a bit helpful because they show the elements that aren't as impacted by global commodity markets. It does tell us something. BUT, using them as a way to claim that all inflation is defeated is dumb.

Interesting conversation with a colleague of mine who's just taken a job at a remittance company. Says one of their main problems to solve is helping *senders* ensure that the money is spent on the right thing (e.g. mortgage, bills). Bitcoin obviously perfect way to do this if everyone accepted it, but that's a long way off. Main thought I have now is about why remittance companies continue to grow despite a faster, cheaper alternative in Bitcoin: besides from marketing budgets, my bet is that these companies are really good at focusing on specific customers and use cases like this. We're often too busy quoting exorbitant Western Union fees, while dozens of fintechs are doing a decent job solving the problem - they're the strongest competition vs. Bitcoin for remittances. My prediction is that these companies slowly get saddled with more and more regulation and costs though.

Walking in the park this morning and overheard an old man on the phone - in his cockney accent: "makes me laugh this neh zero bollocks, jus' a reason for 'em to raise taxes" Gives me hope when I hear normal people expressing based opinions in public.

Government trying to capture individual members of the medical profession. Making it so you can lose your license if you disagree with the current government position.

YouTube starts verifying health workers in the UK

The plan will help ensure YouTubers are genuinely qualified to dish out medical information.