leinir @leinir@computerfairi.es

As Mitch McConnell makes news again for what appears to be some kind of neurological crisis, just your regular reminder not to be an ageist, ableist asshole when you talk about him.

Mocking his cognitive struggles won’t hurt him, won’t even scratch him. But I promise your mocking •will• hurt somebody else who’s listening.

This is a guy who’s spent his life championing white supremacy, war, inequality, and environmental destruction. Punch that. Make people feel bad for that.

Ooh good, there's a UK distributor of furry books now :) https://thebookbadgers.square.site/

We no longer live in the age of Lost Media. We live in the age of Active Erasure by corporations who have the means to preserve it but the financial impetus to destroy it. #LostMedia #ActiveErasure #HBOMax #wbdiscovery #wb #Max #Disney #DisneyPlus #Google

@androcat Talked to a lady who worked for the tax authority here in Norway once. She told me straight away that welfare fraud is such a minor phenomenon that it has zero effect on the welfare budget. She followed that up by saying, "So we need to decide what kind of society we want - one where we're so afraid that someone might get some help they didn't qualify for, at the risk of depriving many others who need that help? Or one where we help folks through tough times and help them become tax payers again?"
A year or two later, I read a study that showed a significant amount of "welfare fraud" cases are folks who genuinely believed they qualified.
The more accessible benefits are, the better for everyone, ultimately.

When I see city/town streets devoid of weeds and decorated with plastic flower towers in full bloom in the middle of the summer heat, I always assume they are run by Tories because they care more about appearances than living creatures or people.

This opinion comes from having grown up in such a place.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/26/civic-wars-break-out-over-rewilding-town-centres-age-of-extinction

Discussing the British Press, and I'm reminded of the time when I had a moderate amount of celebrity in the UK LGBT community, and the press tried to do a hit piece on me.

Now here's the thing. There's a cheat code, and I'm going to explain what it is:

They will contact you for comment.

If you say nothing, they will publish the piece and say you were offered the chance to comment.

If you tell them to fuck off, they will publish the price and say your response was foul and unprintable.

I did neither of these things. I told them that this piece wasn't journalism. It was ridiculous tittle tattle and represented everything that was wrong with a failing and dying industry more obsessed with clickbait than proper reporting. I asked them if they didn't have proper news to report, and said that they should be ashamed of themselves.

They're basically screwed at that point. "We contacted Ms Brown for comment and she said that this was ridiculous tittle tattle and that the reporter should be ashamed of herself."

They're not gonna say that.

I'm struck by something one of my history teachers once said about medieval castles. They weren't meant to be impregnable. They were meant to be annoying enough that an invading army would decide to investigate other priorities instead.

The piece never ran.

If you're a trans person in the crosshairs of the British press, make yourself an annoying target. They're on a deadline, and if you make them conclude that life is too short, they will leave you the fuck alone.

Like old magazines about computers? Why not subscribe to the Time Machine Subscription Service?

You get:

* 12 Computer / Console Magazines ranging from 1980 – 2004ish
* One sent each month
* Excitement of getting stuff in the mail

(I've basically got loads of old magazines to get rid of, servers to pay for, and though this would be a fun way of dealing with it)

More info here:
https://ramokromok.com/mags

This is what a privatised health service looks like.

No vaccine if you are poor, no vaccination program for the common good, just private companies making money from those who can afford to pay.

Covid booster jabs to be approved for sale to UK public
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/17/covid-booster-jabs-approved-for-sale-to-uk-public?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

IDK how to explain to people that it's not just about covid at this point. I haven't had a cold or flu or any kind of illness in years now. I haven't been sick since 2019. The way we used to live now grosses me out, and I simply do not want to return to it.

This is someting I wish I'd realized a lot sooner in life.

Bills like the UK's so-called Online Safety Bill and the just re-introduced EARN IT Act undermine safety by attacking end-to-end encryption. #noearnitact #makedmssafe

QT signalapp: Our position remains clear. We will not back down on providing private, safe communications. Today, we join with other encrypted messengers pushing back on the UK's flawed Online Safety Bill.