We don't have local elections in my area today, but if we did I would be voting for a party which commits to stopping water companies from damaging our environments by dumping raw sewage into our water ways.

History is so important.

"A group of anti-fascists disrupting a white supremacist gathering"

Sunak said he asked his independent ethics adviser to look at Zahawi’s case “straight away”.

But we knew something was up back in July.

I wouldn’t call 6 months “straight away”.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chancellor-nadhim-zahawi-tax-investigation-hmrc-b2119590.html

The takeaway from #SophyRidge's interrogation of #JamesCleverly this morning is that England's current foreign minister hasn't a clue about anything in particular. It's an intriguing approach to PR from the government, I must say.

#NadhimZahawi #TaxAvoidance

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/22/james-cleverly-nadhim-zahawi-tax-investigation-bbc-chair-boris-johnson?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Dangerous time for many in the West's #atmosphericriver zone, but none more so than power line crews and other types of first responders.. #emgtwitter
---
RT @PGE_Mayra
Incredible footage! A @PGE4Me lineman captures the moment a pine tree in Santa Cruz Mountains gives way due to a mudslide along HWY 9 today. Lineman was not hurt, but issues like these are making it unsafe for crews to work in some locations. More info: https://bit.ly/3CA…
https://twitter.com/PGE_Mayra/status/1612615809574240256

I keep seeing articles, about people trying to violently overturn election results, that use phrases like “motivated by election lies”.

They aren’t motivated by lies, they are motivated by not liking the result. Repeating the lies just makes them feel powerful because it makes them part of the grift. They think they’re fooling people.

Blaming the lies lulls us into thinking that this is an education/disinformation problem which, if addressed, will eliminate the violence.

These folks aren’t deluded. They’ve learned from their leaders that violence and lying are the route to power.

For most of my life I thought these problems could be solved by education. I no longer do. As far as I can tell, about 30% of the population believes that getting away with grifts and bullying people is proof of power and leadership that should be respected, worshiped, and emulated.

We can’t educate these folks. We can only build a society that ensures that they cannot gain control. Unfortunately, the entire human race has largely failed to do so, and we’re suffering the consequences on a planetary scale.

Every day we act as though they don’t *know* that the elections were valid, is a day we risk losing the fight for democracy, equality, and a stable environment.

#brazil #JAN6

RT @world360view@twitter.com

@ClaireCoutinho@twitter.com @RishiSunak@twitter.com That is why after 13 years more children live in families in poverty.

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/world360view/status/1610684572077031424

So #RishiSunakPM thinks the way to deal with the ongoing strikes is to legislate to make #strikes subject to a higher voting threshold & to require minimum service obligations (breaching of which is a sacking offence);

Not only is this a further constraint of legitimate #workers' rights, it is a case of attacking the symptom not the (real) problem;

the frustration & despair articulated through strikes will find another avenue of expression, which may be even en more unwelcome to #Tories!

"You see, Elon is a free speech absolutist!"

[like 2 months later]

TWITTER: IT IS NOW AGAINST THE RULES TO POST LINKS TO FACEBOOK OR MASTODON. THESE ARE THE NEW FREE SPEECH RULES.

Between #chatGPT & announcement on progress for #fusion... it's been a mind-blowing perspective-shifting few weeks!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/11/fusion-nuclear-energy-breakthrough/

MTG's tweet about masks and farts and underwear is bait. She wants you to RT it so you can mock how crazy she is, then use the outrage she generates to go on Fox News and talk about how evil masks and Fauci and vaccines are. She does it over and over, and people always fall for it. Despite all appearances, she's not quite as dumb as she seems.

Don't write off what Kanye West did today as the product of mental illness. Yes, he needs help. He also chose to go on a hugely popular show and declare how much he loves Hitler and how great the Nazis were. He's putting a target on every Jew in America, and I won't excuse it or offer my sympathy because he won't take his meds. He can stop doing this any time he wants, but he just does more and more of it.

Here's a thing I've ranted about on Twitter that I'll rant about here: stop calling Trump "the former guy." He's the leader of the Republican Party and their presumptive nominee for 2024. He commands a cult of personality numbering in the millions, and completely rewrote what it means to be conservative in America. Calling him "the former guy" smugly writes all that off. Until he's off the stage for good, he is, sadly, "the guy."

@TomCho @ElTele 😁

@TomCho @ElTele
I think that's the wrong way round. As an analogy, you wouldn't encourage a child learning to speak to learn their alphabet first; you'd encourage them to learn some phrases and simple sentences, then practice those and build on them. Learning the alphabet comes later. Sure, they may not know every letter or sound at first, but they'll be talking and communicating!

@TomCho @ElTele
I'm not sure you need to know all the major scale modes, or, at least, I don't think you need to learn them *first* - I think if you learn the arpeggio shape first for each chord you're implicitly learning the scale mode, or at least the root third fifth and seventh. Then you can start to just noodle over each chord using the root third fifth seventh at first, then focus on emphasising the changes between chords.

@ElTele @TomCho
Are you actually learning any songs? Sorry, trying to guage where you're at!
Just starting Alone Together, so I can work through some minor iiVi improv patterns.

@TomCho @ElTele
Its pretty nerve-wracking! And I was only playing with a mate who I'd known for years already!

@TomCho @ElTele
Modern Jazz Guitar Concepts: Cutting Edge Jazz Guitar Techniques With Virtuoso Jens Larsen (Learn How to Play Jazz Guitar) https://amzn.eu/d/c8HvCFp

@TomCho @ElTele
I think making improv sound more jazzy is just practice, and forcing yourself to learn new concepts (e.g. Coltrane patterns, or using the minor pentatonic over the V chord), and vocabulary (things you've heard in jazz tunes). The hardest bit it retaining it while it's not second nature!
Do you guys jam with others? Or do online courses?