The Blog
14 Apr 2018 That Feeling When: You wake up, check the news and discover we're at war again.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/04/just-whos-pulling-the-strings/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/14/theresa-may-britain-air-strikes-syria-chemical-weapons-raf [from: Google+ Posts] [ 14-Apr-18 8:53am ] 20 Mar 2018 Will Twitter and threadreaderapp.com please just motherfucking die already. I mean seriously, fuck that shit.
How the hell did long form text and discussion come to this? This shaking fist brought to you via, https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/975545004205654016.html A most excellent rant about the need for a CS code of ethics. With teeth. [from: Google+ Posts] [ 20-Mar-18 7:02am ] This needs sharing.
 Alan Cox originally shared this post: One of the curious things about writing stuff is the way it sometimes decides that you aren't entirely in charge. Characters add themselves without invite or what was intended to be one thing turns in other ways. I was trying to write something about the rising disillusionment with the state and the 1%, but the words decided they wanted to be a good deal nastier The sit and do their plotting And they don't give a damn You are part of the problem If you aren't part of the plan They really don't like it If you stick it the man But they've got ways to make You vanish when they can It's a dark country And we're sharpening the blades To test on politicians Billionaires and aides It's a dark country It's a dark country As the rulers climb the mountain They think they're atlas shrugged But money aint invention And they won't do too good When we knock down their empire And take back all we should When we tear up the system Well it's time they understood It's a dark country And revolution stalks Starting with the ballot box And fighting in the courts It's a dark country It's a dark country You can push the people so far You can lie to them like dogs But there comes a day they'll stick a spanner in the cogs When the machine grinds to a halt And the dollars cease to print Remember those you treat like shit Were the ones to load the ink It's a dark country And the knives are coming out If we can't beat you through the system We'll beat you from without It's a dark country It's a dark country So as you take away the healthcare As the schools fall down and bust As you swap wages for zero hours As the libraries fall to dust When the army don't give a damn When the police have had enough Everyone you stamped on is ready To take you down with us It's a dark country Don't think that you can hide One day we're going to get you And you won't enjoy the ride It's a dark country It's a dark country [from: Google+ Posts] [ 20-Mar-18 6:51am ] 06 Mar 2018 I've just stumbled across the Hertford & Stortford CLP Labour Party newsletter.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0ByQLwV6sd4_KOTEzWU1IQzNiZzQ I'm going to quote the section on Brexit in full because it's quite a reasonable summary of where we are in early March 2018. One sentence stood out though under "known unknowns" (sic!). "(c) After the May Local Government elections the Labour Party will revise its position on Brexit" Ah, politics and the pursuit of power. Donchajusloveem! The Labour Party is so busy trying to get itself elected, it's sidelining the big problems. It's somehow persuaded itself (cough, Momentum has persuaded it, cough) that an overtly anti-Brexit stance will hurt it in the polls. So it won't do that until the May 2018->Mar 2019 window when there's no elections scheduled. here's the text -- Brexit: Seven months to go? Here are the milestones: 1. Phase one written agreement March 2018 2. Phase 2 agreement October 2018 3. Departure from EU institutions 29th March 2019 (D-day) 4. Transition phase/implementation of any deal , not later than December 2020 And here are the variables: (a) The EU four freedoms, the body of social, technical and commercial regulations, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), security, EU trade agreements, single market and customs union, air traffic, passporting, and EU institutions (commission, parliament, council) (b) The UK redlines are no single market, no customs union, no free movement, no ECJ oversight, freedom to set UK trade deals, soft Irish border The UK does not appear to have a position apart from a fall back ‘no deal’ exit from all of the EU variables above, and a World Trade Organisation (WTO) basis for trading. The phase 1 agreement was fudged in December 2017, i.e. the divorce settlement, end of free movement (EU and UK citizen status) and the Irish internal border. The EU requires the agreement in writing (no fudges) at the end of March (milestone 1). Only the divorce settlement at £39 billion may be definite, citizens rights are contentious and a soft Irish border is impossible without either the EU or the UK or both compromising on the variables. The EU has made it clear what it expects to include in the agreement (see http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-18-725_en.htm). It is not clear how the EU will react if agreement cannot be reached on the phase 1 issues. The phase 2 agreement is about to start negotiation. Although D-day (departure day) is March 2019, any agreement has to be approved by the 27 national governments, the EU Commission, and the European Parliament. This approval is estimated to require the six months October 2018 (milestone 2) to March 2019 (milestone 3). The UK Westminster Parliament and the devolved Assemblies potentially have the opportunity to approve the agreement although the Government has warned this may not be possible in time to influence the outcome of phase 2 (milestone 2). A key part of phase 2 negotiation is the transition (implementation) phase after milestone 3. This is currently highly contentious but may end up as exit from the EU institutions, but retention of the other EU variables with the ability to negotiate (but not sign) trade treaties. Reese Mogg, as leading Brexiteer, refers to this as a ‘vassal state’ and might force the Government to drop the transition phase. The EU, in the absence of a UK position, has produced a position paper “Transitional Arrangements in the Withdrawal Agreement” It is not clear what will happen if one or other or both of the agreements are unacceptable or require further negotiation so that the EU approvals are not received by D-day. The EU has indicated that it would welcome the UK’s return to the Union although stopping Brexit might require the approval of all 27 EU nations. If this were to take place before milestone 3 then Brexit could simply be stopped. If it takes place before milestone 4 (if there is a milestone 4) then the UK could simply rejoin the EU institutions and continue in a (diminished) membership. If it takes place after milestone 4, then the UK would join the list of countries seeking access to the Union and could be required to join the Euro as the price of re-admission. Within the EU, there is a common negotiating position and strong resistance to ‘cherry-picking’ and ‘having cake and eating it’ approaches to modifying this position, although the UK lives in hope. Within the UK, the known unknowns are: (a) There is no customs union of any form (b) Theresa May’s government might be replaced by a strongly pro hard Brexit administration (c) After the May Local Government elections the Labour Party will revise its position on Brexit (d) Passage of legislation embodied in the UK Withdrawal Bill and other bills may falter (e) The Tories may call a General Election The Government has already indicated that it will not remain in the customs union but might be a member of a customs union; however some Brexiteers are opposed even to this. No customs union (option (a)) is a significant barrier to trade (and to the Irish Border). The “customs arrangement” suggested by the UK is ill-defined and may be unacceptable to the EU. Option (b) is a possibility if the Tories can agree a replacement leader. The signs are that this could move the Government even further to the right and to a definite hard Brexit position. Option (c), if it happens, might result in the Government (even with its DUP backed majority) being unable to pass key legislation. Resistance to parts of the withdrawal legislation can be expected, for example the ‘Henry VIII’ powers that give the Government a virtually blank legislative cheque, or omissions of key aspects such as worker’s rights and environmental issues. However, failure to provide a legal framework post Brexit (option (d)) would have a nuclear impact on the UK so that Labour might press for amending rather than outright blocking of legislation. The Tories would not want to risk losing a General Election (and maybe having a soft or no Brexit) and would seek to avoid option (e), although they might be tempted to risk it after D-day (milestone 3) on a “job done, don’t spoil it” platform but before the end of any transition period. Labour would then get the blame for the expected problems that would follow milestone 4.  Branch Newsletters - Google Drive »My Account · Search · Maps · YouTube · Play · News · Gmail · Drive · Calendar · Google+ · Translate · Photos · More · Shopping · Finance · Docs · Books · Blogger · Contacts · Hangouts · Keep · Earth · Even more from Google · Sign in · Drive. Google apps. Main menu. [from: Google+ Posts] [ 06-Mar-18 7:21am ] 04 Mar 2018 Always scary to see yourself on TV. Our local Save Green Belt campaign got chosen with an hour's notice to represent the problems with Sajid Javid and his proposals due to be announced tomorrow. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/04/nimby-councils-homes-lose-planning-powers-sajid-javid
Here's the 90 seconds we got on Channel 4 news tonight. https://www.channel4.com/news/councils-given-ultimatum-on-housing  [from: Google+ Posts] [ 04-Mar-18 7:47pm ] 13 Feb 2018 [ 13-Feb-18 3:15pm ] [ 13-Feb-18 3:14pm ] 05 Feb 2018 Space is unbelievably hostile to meat sacks. Space is at the other end of a deep gravity well. It looks like we had one shot at using a cheap source of energy to make the leap off planet. And failed. Well done mankind. You had one job ... -- Maybe, there will never be another period of laying down fossil fuel on earth now that fungi that can digest Lignin have appeared. Which means no future life on earth will have the benefit of easy access to very large quantities of energy to bootstrap a technological civilisation. https://phys.org/news/2018-02-fungi-nutrients-world.html [from: Google+ Posts] [ 05-Feb-18 8:29am ] br />
https://www.edge.org/the-last-question-1 Another spectacularly meaningless collection from a large number of "Thought Leaders". ;) Here's mine. "What's the minimum viable population and civilisation that can support a chip foundry".   The Edge Question 2018 - 1 | Edge.org »Subscribe to Edge. ×. You can subscribe to Edge and receive e-mail versions of EdgeEditions as they are published on the web. Fill out the form, below, with your name and e-mail address and your subscription will be automatically processed. Email address *. Your name *. Country *. NOTE: if you use a ... [from: Google+ Posts] [ 05-Feb-18 8:25am ] 23 Jan 2018 Farr Festival
https://tickets.farrfestival.co.uk/rep/jbond-farr-2018 This is going to be a hard sell this year as there's no discount for rep tickets. But, If you or your friends buy through this link and give me an email address I can reward them with £9 via paypal. But to be honest, the 5 for 4 deal is a better offer. What can I say, last year (and the year before!) was fun with great sets from Chaos in the CBD, Omar-S, Ramzi, Huerco S, Mr G, Willow, Avalon Emerson, Sad City and others. http://www.farrfestival.co.uk/   Farr Festival 2018 »For the next edition of Farr Festival we have a weighty selection of record labels and institutions to bring the heat to Bygrave Woods. But first, here’s a taste of the initial acts joining us at Farr Festival 2018. Taking centre stage we welcome Innervisions co-founder Dixon, Mahogani Music legend Moodymann, Running Back label founder Gerd Janson, Glasgow’s iconic DJ duo Optimo and LuckyMe family member Eclair Fifi. Now over to our stage hosts... [from: Google+ Posts] [ 23-Jan-18 8:07am ] 05 Jan 2018 version burn to the ground.
The original was a big inspiration for me. That still stands. http://www.simondale.net/ https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/04/grand-designs-27000-eco-home-in-wales-burns-to-the-ground Needless to say, planning permission is an ongoing battle for them. I have very mixed feelings about this, because our wood is in an area where planning permission for new houses is pretty strictly controlled. And this is right, because there's so much pressure for new building round here that given half a chance, all that green belt and SSSI woodland would be converted into housing estates. Though it's really apparent that if you have the right friends and plenty of money, any old barn can become a hamlet of half a dozen converted and extended farm buildings. Before you know it, you've got a village or another gated community. Going ahead and building anyway, and then spending the next 20 years appealing retrospective planning requests is a viable option provided you spend little money and are prepared to just walk away. That doesn't mean that's necessarily the right, moral thing to do. Electrical fire? Building codes are there for a reason. Even if you're off grid. I mustn't be too negative though. The buildings that these people have built are beautiful and properly amazing.  [from: Google+ Posts] [ 05-Jan-18 6:54pm ] 02 Jan 2018 It's that time again. As ever, if you can't absorb all of them try this one for club music. http://whitenoisemusic.co.uk/best-2017-outside-club/ And for the gratuitously obscure or maybe just obscurely gratuitous http://thequietus.com/articles/23660-albums-of-the-year-2017 I like that Kendrick Lamar: DAMN. is simultaneously best album and most over-rated album. http://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/summary/2017/ https://datatransmission.co/blog/top-100-tracks-2017/ https://djmag.com/content/top-50-tracks-2017 https://djmag.com/content/top-50-albums-2017 https://djmag.com/tag/Best+of+2017 http://dis11.herokuapp.com/in_depth/4151506-drowned-in-sounds-favourite-albums-of-2017 http://www.dummymag.com/news/the-10-best-albums-of-2017 http://www.dummymag.com/news/the-10-best-tracks-of-2017 http://www.factmag.com/2017/12/15/best-tracks-2017/ http://www.factmag.com/2017/12/16/best-record-labels-2017/ http://www.factmag.com/2017/12/14/best-club-tracks-2017/ http://www.factmag.com/2017/12/12/best-house-techno-tracks-2017/ http://www.gorillavsbear.net/gorilla-vs-bears-albums-of-2017/ http://www.gorillavsbear.net/gorilla-vs-bears-songs-of-2017/ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/04/the-top-100-tracks-of-2017 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/05/the-best-albums-of-2017 https://hypem.com/zeitgeist/2017 http://includemeout2.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/2017-albums-of-year.html http://mixmag.net/feature/the-top-20-djs-of-2017 http://mixmag.net/feature/the-top-100-tracks-of-2017 http://www.phonicarecords.com/year/best-of-2017-albums/74 http://www.phonicarecords.com/year/best-of-2017-singles/79/75 https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-20-best-electronic-albums-of-2017/ https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/pitchfork-readers-poll-results-2017/ http://thequietus.com/articles/23660-albums-of-the-year-2017 http://thequietus.com/articles/23718-noel-s-straight-hedge-punk-hardcore-best-albums-of-the-year-2017-pinkgrip-mozart-mutual-jerk http://thequietus.com/articles/23720-best-r-b-2017-syd-kelela-sza-miguel http://thequietus.com/articles/23721-best-jazz-2017-top-ten-jaimie-branch-pat-thomas-alice-coltrane-nicole-mitchell http://thequietus.com/articles/23729-foul-house-best-of-2017-new-weird-britain-elodie-vom-ansome-duds http://thequietus.com/articles/23742-columnfortably-numb-psych-albums-of-the-year-2017-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs-circle-flowers-must-die-alvarius-b http://thequietus.com/articles/23750-hyperspecific-end-of-year-2017 http://thequietus.com/articles/23768-tracks-of-the-year-songs-2017 https://www.redbull.com/au-en/best-albums-of-2017-so-far https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3090 electronic music https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3133 Tracks https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3134 Albums https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnZOad80R4nrHmUwTRveZX27vIKtZWSp- RA Best House https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/20-best-edm-and-electronic-albums-of-2017-w513661 http://www.self-titledmag.com/2017/12/28/top-10-most-underrated-2017-albums/ http://www.self-titledmag.com/2017/12/29/top-100-records-of-2017/ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL60Iw6NrJ5P7n_z-sZtuNGoEIJcN9fk1B&disable_polymer=true Slav House https://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2017-favorite-labels?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tmt https://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2017-favorite-50-songs https://thevinylfactory.com/features/best-albums-2017/ http://whitenoisemusic.co.uk/best-2017-house-techno/ http://whitenoisemusic.co.uk/best-2017-experimental-club/ http://whitenoisemusic.co.uk/best-2017-balearic-ambient/ http://whitenoisemusic.co.uk/best-2017-outside-club/ https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/listen-to-the-wire-top-50-releases-of-2017 https://www.xlr8r.com/features/2017/12/xlr8rs-best-of-2017-releases/ And finally my two picks of the year. Grant - Perception. Finely crafted House music for the cocktail hour. DJ Python – Dulce Compañia. "Deep Reggaeton". Hypnotic dance music that's not 4/4. [from: Google+ Posts] 20 Dec 2017 [ 20-Dec-17 8:09am ] 18 Dec 2017 We kept on trying stuff. Because that's what humans do.
Here's an incomplete list of things we tried. For example:- #23: Believe you are making a difference. Some of these should be passed to The Long Now group. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwvgeq/an-incomplete-timeline-of-what-we-tried  [from: Google+ Posts] [ 18-Dec-17 9:44am ] 28 Nov 2017 Way back in 2005, I wrote a little piece about my search for Turkish rolling tobacco[1]. Today, Adsense noticed that it links to somebody who sells tobacco. Which of course is a heinous sin and violates their programme policies! We can't be selling advertising on a web page that links to a tobacco salesman. So I get a warning and rap over the knuckles. I've now deleted the blog entry which should keep them quiet. I ran into this once before over alcohol where I'd posted one of my "Friday Night Cocktail" recipes with a link to a specific brand website on G+. Another heinous sin because I'd neglected to specify my posts as being for over 18s and we can't be linking to a website that might sell or promote alcohol. On the plus side, I re-found another wonderful blog entry in the same vein and from the same time. https://voidstar.com/node.php?id=2161 At least this time I didn't get the "You did something really bad and we might block and delete your account, but we won't tell you what it was" routine. [1] 6 years now since I gave up. I don't miss the smoking but I do still occasionally miss the process of smoking. [from: Google+ Posts] [ 28-Nov-17 4:42pm ] The Labour party membership renewal team are phoning me about once a week at the moment. I'm having to explain why I won't be renewing every time so they've asked me to email labourmembership@labour.org.uk and fill in the contact form with an explanation. https://action.labour.org.uk/page/s/membership-contact-form
This is what I sent:- While I broadly support the Labour Party and it's principles, I will not be renewing my membership until the Labour Party formally commits to stopping Brexit and cancelling Article 50. [from: Google+ Posts] [ 28-Nov-17 9:18am ] 09 Nov 2017 https://www.change.org/p/boris-step-down-as-foreign-secretary #UK #Politics #Brexit  [from: Google+ Posts] [ 09-Nov-17 5:33pm ] 08 Nov 2017 In the last couple of years, the Poly-Named-One posted a comment on the Charles Stross Blog (http://
In the last couple of years, the Poly-Named-One posted a comment on the Charles Stross Blog (http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/) explaining it's categorising levels of Meta from M1-M5. I've been completely unable to find this again. Google and the Blog's search engine are failing to track it down, or my search-Fu is hopeless. Anyone remember this and can help me find it?
Is there a place to have the kind of meta-discussions about the blog that would rightly be blocked by the moderators within a specific blog-comments thread? I was kind of expecting a sub-Reddit but can't see one. And the reason for looking is James Bridle has recently posted a long and important essay about algorithmically generated kid's videos on Youtube. Here. https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2 This demands a Wild Hunt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hunt) because they're stealing our kids. But it's symptomatic and just one example of a much bigger problem. And it felt right up the PolyNamedOne's street. There are layers and layers of Meta here. And incidentally, there's a discussion to be had about appropriate places in 2018 for posting personal long form text. People rightly hate Medium. And self hosted blogs-RSS are a bit out of favour these days. Blogspot-Wordpress style insta-blogs always run the risk of censorship or simply going out of business. The Social Media platforms have similar censorship issues and are generally hopeless for long form text. I've even seen https://txt.fyi/ suggested. It may work, but it feels like a toy. [from: Google+ Posts] [ 08-Nov-17 9:17am ] 06 Nov 2017 https://www.opendemocracy.net/neweconomics/celebrating-800th-anniversary-charter-forest/ Quoting: The Charter of the Forest is among the first ecological charters in history and among the first to assert the rights of the common man and woman. As it coincided with the first feminist advance, in a modified Article 7 of the Magna Carta, which could have been in the Forest Charter, it could also be called a first feminist charter. The Charter has the distinction of being the most durable piece of legislation in British history, having only been superseded in 1971, with the Wild Creatures and Forest Laws Act, by when most of its principles had been embedded in other legislation, including the Commons Act of 1876, which ruled that enclosure should be allowed only if there were public benefit, and by the establishment of the Forestry Commission in 1919.   Celebrating the 800th anniversary of the Charter of the Forest »This year is the 800th anniversary of a founding document of the British constitution, and of other constitutions as well. Issued in the name of a ten-year-old King Henry III alongside the modified Charter of Liberties that had been sealed by King John and the barons at Runnymede on June 15, 2015 th... [from: Google+ Posts] [ 06-Nov-17 9:03am ] 30 Oct 2017 https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/oct/30/frestonia-london-commune-squatters#comment-107525492 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frestonia There's an exhibition of photos here. http://www.frestoniangallery.com/ Loving the quote from the Illuminatus Trilogy in this period photo of David Rappaport: Frestonia's Foreign Minister. https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/921dd70e73917b43b1b8e78fd0cd2a74570495d3/1626_524_3978_2388/master/3978.jpg?w=860&q=20&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&dpr=2&s=8074235c1473f12afc7d983beffef097  [from: Google+ Posts] [ 30-Oct-17 7:51am ] 
  1 to 20 of 3784 |
