The political problems caused by Yvette Cooper's proscription of Palestine Action continue to grow... Cooper likely sees the bleating of liberals as a badge of honour, but sadly she may have underestimated how many people actually think the right to protest is a major political issue.

As Labour own goals go, the proscription of PA is slowly moving up the rankings; now, no doubt also fearing accusations of a U-Turn we can expect Cooper to double down!

#protest #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/15/palestine-action-prosecutions-should-be-suspended-uk-rights-groups

Are Israel's allies abandoning a sinking ship? | Middle East Eye
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/are-israels-allies-abandoning-sinking-ship

@palestine #Palestine

The #joy of working in #archives. On Tuesday I found a reference to on Mr Crapper selling land to be used as part of Walsall’s sewage farm. Today I found a Henry Bladder providing horses, labour, and tools to the sewage farm at Malvern. Writing the #history of #NineteenthCentury #sewage #farming is proving more colourful than even I imagined! #EnvHist

Ex-Commando Condemns Palestine Action Arrests:

"Years ago, Monty Python did a sketch about gangsters called the Piranha Brothers, and one of the characters in this had his head nailed to a coffee table by the Piranha Brothers. When asked why, he said, “Oh, they said I’d broken the unwritten law.” They said, “What was it?” “I don’t know. They wouldn’t tell me.”

https://bylinetimes.com/2025/08/12/colonel-turned-campaigner-ex-commando-condemns-dictatorial-crackdown-after-palestine-action-arrest/

@palestine #palestine

Self-Recognition in Fish: Exploring the Mind in Animals by Masanori Kohda & Shumpei Sogawa, 2025

This book describes the process of making the major breakthrough in the study of animal self-awareness using fish. The discovery led by the author’s team, proving the mirror self-recognition ability of fish, is vividly documented as they share the process of making, testing and verifying hypotheses and developing further hypotheses.

#bookstodon
#nonfiction
#SelfAwareness
#MCR
#fish
#Springer

@SteveClough

If we chose to support small businesses, small farmers and fishers, then those businesses would increase and thrive.

I would argue the only way to create a sustainable economy in the long run is to take precisely this approach that balances between traditional food production and modern lifestyles that make use of new technologies.

@SteveClough

People shouldn't have to leave those jobs that are meaningful simply because they are economically unviable. That's not a "choice". That's coercion via market forces.

The "world needs to change" is one of those assumptions built into capitalist logic. Of course the world always changes, but there's no reason it can't change in their other direction, with small fishing becoming more popular and more important.

North Koreans tell BBC they are sent to work 'like slaves' in Russia

"Waking up was terrifying, realising you had to repeat the same day over again." Workdays involved waking at 6am and being forced to build high-rise apartments until 2am the next morning

"Some people would leave their post to sleep in the day, or fall asleep standing up, but the supervisors would find them and beat them. It was truly like we were dying."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2077gwjlvxo

#worldpolitics

The UK is losing its small fishing boats – and the communities they support

What was once the beating heart of a coastal community is at risk of becoming a memory in many areas...

While small-scale fisheries may be marginal from the perspective of national GDP, fewer boats often means fewer families – and the erosion of a community which makes a seaside town more than just a tourist backdrop.
https://theconversation.com/the-uk-is-losing-its-small-fishing-boats-and-the-communities-they-support-262092

Today we will likely see police arrest more peaceful protestors during demonstrations against the proscription of Palestine Action.

Its yet one more unforced error by the Labour Party; there were other ways that PA might have been sanctioned (not least of all the usual prosecutions for criminal damage), but Yvette Cooper (with the backing of Kier Starmer) has gone down the route of attacking the democratic right to protest.

Today protestors are making a vital point; I salute them!

#politics

@gerrymcgovern One of the first prompts I gave ChatGPT back in 2022 came from my main hobby (amateur astronomy). I asked it to tell me something about the extrasolar planets orbiting the star [[fake star ID]].

[[fake star ID]] was something that anyone who knew how to use Wikipedia half-intelligently could verify was fake within a few minutes.

I wasn't even trying to be deceptive; I genuinely wanted to see how ChatGPT would handle a request for information that I knew couldn't be in its training data.

The torrents of bullshit it produced -- paragraph after paragraph of totally confabulated data about these nonexistent planets orbiting a nonexistent star -- told me everything I needed to know about ChatGPT and its buddies, and I've never been tempted to use them for anything serious since.

Hey, this is not even a joke #AcademicWriting #AcademicChatter

Another brick...

#Comics #PinkFloyd

Fourteen House and Senate Democrats warned Harvard on Thursday that they would consider launching a congressional investigation into any major settlement between the University and the Trump administration.
In a two-page letter sent to Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76, the lawmakers expressed “deep concern” over recent reports that Harvard is weighing a financial settlement with the White House — potentially as much as $500 million — to win back billions of dollars in federal research funding.
“We are alarmed that Harvard would contemplate a settlement of this magnitude under apparent political pressure,” wrote the letter’s signatories, who are all Harvard alumni. “Such a decision would raise serious questions about the preservation of institutional autonomy and academic freedom.”

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/8/2/congress-democrats-harvard-letter/

About 9 million years ago, a natural inbreeding in the wild between tomato plants and a potato-like plant species in present-day South America gave way to what we know as the potato.

This new (and nutritious) plant arose from an evolutionary event that triggered the formation of the tuber–the underground structure that plants like potatoes, yams, and taros use to store food.

The findings are detailed in a study published July 31 in the journal Cell.

https://www.popsci.com/environment/potato-evolved-from-tomato/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ten_tabs&utm_campaign=FIREFOX-EDITORIAL-TENTABS-2025_08_01&position=5&category=fascinating_stories&scheduled_corpus_item_id=21b75843-513e-4f09-8b90-096afb18b984&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.popsci.com%2Fenvironment%2Fpotato-evolved-from-tomato%2F

Hi @SnugglyBunne and welcome back!

@etherdiver is an essential follow for discovering musicians and songwriters on the Fediverse.

@labr is a live radio station that frequently features DJs and artists on the Fediverse.

Hashtags are a great way of finding artists. #BandcampFriday was earlier this month and many artists were using the opportunity to promote their choons. #Rock, #Metal, #Pop, #Soul, #Synth, #Folk, or even just #music are all active hashtags. You could explore the #Fedivision hashtag for a bunch of Fedi-artists too.

Also, you could post your own work and let yourself be found. If you have something particular you’d like to promote, let me know - I’m usually up for boosting art on the Fediverse!

Good luck finding your peeps!!
✌️😁🤘

@SnugglyBunne I'm a musician I just don't post on it because I'm trying finish a PhD that never fucking ends... People say I write comedy folk punk... But recently started dabbling in hip hop beats... Might post more about this stuff when my PhD is done!

i wanna find some musicians in fediverse... it still feels very programmer-centric and my music friends are overwhemingly on bluesky

#music #musicians #MusicMastodon #fedimusic

House Democrats sign on to letter urging Trump to recognise Palestinian statehood - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/04/house-democrats-letter-palestinian-statehood he won't, but it's an idea whose time has come #gazagenocide #israel #palestine

I asked my German friend to draw me an informational diagram.

“Venn?" he asked.

I replied, “As soon as you can.”

(Happy Birthday John Venn)