Notices by Richard Michael Blaber (rmblaber1956@mastodon.social)

@cstross Well, I DO care about the environmental cost of AI, even if I agree with you about the rest. The "intelligence" at the root of the problem IS sociopathic - but it isn't artificial, it's only too human!

@zoe It's pointless writing to mine, Gen Kitchen - she's just Starmerite lobby fodder, with no will of her own, incapable of doing anything other than what the whips tell her to. She's a bit like a Dalek: "I ob-ey!" Pathetic!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/03/29/russia-drone-attack-dnipro-ceasefire-trump/. Given the number of Ukrainians who've died during it, it's not exactly a "ceasefire", is it? All it is is an opportunity for Putin to re-arm, & then seize back any territory he's lost, & Trump is quite happy to help him do that - &, in fact, more than happy to help him acquire even more, @EugeneMcParland.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/30/turkeys-young-hope-of-millions-held-in-jail-as-erdogan-cracks-down-on-protests.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/mar/27/raw-sewage-hours-dumped-water-companies-england-last-year-data. "Data released by the Environment Agency on Thursday revealed water companies discharged untreated effluent for 3.62m hours, a slight increase on last year... The increase in the hours of raw sewage dumped into waterways comes as water companies are increasing bills by an average of £123... in the biggest hit to customers’ pockets since the industry was privatised 36 years ago."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/mar/27/gaza-palestine-children-injuries.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/03/25/turkey-istanbul-mayor-erdogan-imamoglu/.

https://www.freedomunited.org/news/survivor-slavery-at-sea-facing-deportation/?trk_msg=VSIKTG0ENGI4F0R363MGG2VNG0&trk_contact=OVOCFOQEH4V52CV52J7PDKP008&trk_sid=ANRFSETQH10R8I201KTTEG8CAC&trk_link=G664IR2J85GK982G2TQSPH1MSO&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Read+more&utm_campaign=News+Digest_03.23.2025+Core+supporters&utm_content=News+Digest_03.23.2025+Core+supporters.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/21/oil-protest-activism-greenpeace-dakota-pipeline-verdict. This is VERY bad indeed - a victory for oil & gas over the future of humanity & the planet, @greenpeace. It couldn't be more calamitous, @GeraldKutney. It MUST be appealed, & the appeal MUST be successful.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/21/scottish-labour-would-set-up-musk-style-doge-department-says-sarwar. That sounds like a very, very good reason for NOT voting for Scottish Labour, @MadeyeTheCarnaptious, @ScottishGreens, @Peternimmo. Mr Sarwar must be completely mad to want to be compared with Elon Musk!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/19/trump-ukraine-war-russia-could-have-made-a-deal; https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/feb/19/russia-ukraine-war-volodymyr-zelenskyy-vladimir-putin-donald-trump-europe-latest-news. So, Ukraine started the war with Russia, according to Trump! Did they invade themselves - steal their own territory, try to overthrow their own government? Er... no. The "deal" Trump talks of is one where Ukraine capitulated to Russia's bullying & rewarded imperialist aggression & threats by appeasement, which NEVER WORKS!

@ThomHartmann Your assumption - a false one, I'm afraid - is that you STARTED from democracy. You can't return to something you never had. The USA has always been a plutocracy, initially one based on slavery - it's just that the ultra-wealthy elite can no longer be bothered to mask their power, or their use of what Steven Lukes calls the "third face", or "dimension", of power.

https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/impact-of-loneliness-on-young-disabled-people-is-wide-reaching-new-research-finds/.

https://www.dw.com/en/ecuador-wildfires-trigger-national-emergency/a-70815597.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/12/the-exile-of-mosab-abu-toha-how-a-gazan-poet-was-forced-to-flee-his-home.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/31/shell-investments-in-renewable-energy-drop-spending-budget.

@breadandcircuses Capitalism will end itself - but a lot of us, I'm afraid, are going to be ended with it. Our entire technological "civilisation" is destined to collapse, & the future global human population will, so I believe, be very, very much smaller than it is now.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/17/northern-gaza-israel-depraved-campaign.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/17/shaban-al-dalou-burned-alive-israel-gaza.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/17/gaza-doctors-testimonies.