Notices by Adam Jacobs 🇺🇦 (statsguy@mas.to)

#Melania wants you all to know that she never had anything to do with #Epstein, never been friends with him, never even met the guy. And hasn't even ever met Ghislaine Maxwell.

So please don't boost this photo, as that would make her sad.

#EpsteinFiles #ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles

I'm sure I've said it before, but I think it bears repeating: many of the societal problems that we face, which might superficially be regarded as something that we look to science to solve, are in fact not problems for natural sciences, but problems for social sciences and politics.

Looking at the horrible #meningitis B outbreak in Kent, the question to ask is not "how can science keep us safe from such things?" Scientists have already given us an effective vaccine against meningitis B.

1/2

The question to ask is "why did politicians decide not to give this vaccine to teenagers and young adults?"

https://news.sky.com/story/kent-meningitis-outbreak-a-cruel-reminder-young-people-are-most-at-risk-13520607

2/2

#Meningitis #MeningitisB #Vaccines

I don't think the UK media have made nearly enough noise about the US Navy sinking an *unarmed* Iranian warship and then, in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions, leaving them to drown.

This is a heinous war crime which the media would be rightly up in arms about if any country that wasn't nominally an "ally" had done it.

https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gcii-1949/article-18/commentary/2017

#IRISDena #IranWar #WarCrimes #GenevaConventions

Starmer: We need to learn the lessons from last week's by election. What are the voters telling us?

Advisers: They are upset that we support Israel when they kill people, they are concerned about the cost of living, and they think you're dishonest

Starmer: OK, here's the plan. Let's join in Israel's latest illegal war that will kill people and make everything more expensive, and let's say it's in "self defence".

Advisers: [Scream into the void and run away]

#UKPolitics #IsraelIranWar

I've had an email from Octopus Energy telling me that because of dramatic falls in wholesale electricity prices, they sadly have no choice but to reluctantly reduce the price they are paying me for the electricity I export from my solar panels.

Weirdly, they seem very much to have the choice not to reduce the price of the electricity that they sell to me.

Isn't it funny how that works?

#Electricity #Octopus #OctopusEnergy #PowerCompanies

The measles outbreak in North London is looking like quite a big deal.

Remember folks, while most kids in developed countries who get measles will make a full recovery, there is still a substantial minority that can get serious complications. It is not a benign disease.

If you have kids, this would be a good time to check that they are up to date with their vaccinations.

The MMR vaccine provides excellent protection against measles.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99jyexve1jo

#Measles #Vaccines #MMR

@selzero How about this aria from the Marriage of Figaro. Not only is it in Italian, it's also about the humble servant sticking it to the aristocracy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=est2z4PEwfs

This is a huge mark of shame for the UK.

There is absolutely no reason why one of the world's richest countries shouldn't be able to keep measles at bay.

The causes are no doubt complex, but this really should be a solvable problem for a rich country with the political will to solve it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgjw0xegxglo

#Measles #NHSCrisis #Antivax

I had planned to buy some 8 TB HDDs for a NAS box today, but everyone seems to be out of stock.

Anyone know what's going on there? Is that an AI thing with huge data centres messing with supply chains, or just retailers being taken by surprise that they don't get deliveries over the Christmas week?

#AI #Computers

So according to the UK government, Greta Thunberg is now a dangerous terrorist.

I'm beginning to think the UK government may have lost its moral compass.

https://news.sky.com/story/greta-thunberg-arrested-at-a-protest-supporting-palestine-action-hunger-strikers-13486842

#GretaThunberg #PalestineAction #UKPolitics

"We'll sue them for anywhere between $1bn [£759m] and $5bn, probably sometime next week."

He didn't though, did he?

#TACO

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c891jp9j79do

The world, 2015: "OMG, look how corrupt Sepp Blatter is! Surely FIFA will never again be so discredited!"

FIFA, 2025: "Hold my beer"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cy5gw0wv5zqo

#PeacePrizeMyArse #FIFA #FIFAWorldCup #Trump

The second strike certainly looks like a war crime (or, given that the US is not at war with Venezuela, just plain old murder), but sadly there is no chance of anyone being held to account under international law, as the US doesn't sign up to it.

We can only hope that enough GOP Senators and Representatives grow a spine so that Hegseth, Admiral Bradley, and everyone below Bradley in the chain of command can be held to account through the US Justice system.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0r95q9kv1go

#TurdReich

Christ, the US is so far through the looking glass now.

When I joined the Navy one of the first things they taught you was that you must always follow orders given by a superior officer, UNLESS they were illegal orders, in which case you had a duty to refuse to follow them.

https://www.mississippifreepress.org/pentagon-threatens-to-court-martial-us-senator-for-urging-troops-to-uphold-oath-defy-illegal-orders/

#Fascism #TurdReich #NurembergDefence

In the movies, sometimes the world faces an existential threat, like for example in Armageddon.

And then the heroes figure out a way to save humanity from imminent extinction, sometimes at great personal sacrifice.

In real life, when we face an existential threat, the leaders of the world get together (at least those of them that can be arsed to turn up), and say "ah fuck it, let's not bother with this, let's just let the world burn".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cgqlqyepwylt

#COP30 #COPOUT30 #ClimateChange

@botvolution Doesn't really matter if she believes it or not, if her sponsors tell her not to tax the risk, then she has to comply or lose a valuable income stream.

"Another option would be to lower the thresholds which would raise more money than simply extending the freeze."

Lowering the thresholds would be a spectacularly terrible thing to do. A monstrously regressive way of raising taxes.

If Reeves is even thinking about that, then she deserves to be fired: preferably into outer space.

A new tax on EVs would also be spectacularly stupid.

Why not just tax the rich?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0mx3nv7zy8o

#UKPolitics #RachelReeves #Budget #Budget2025

I see the NHS are making 18,000 staff redundant.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I didn't think that the main problem with the NHS was that it was over--resourced.

The idea that "it's fine, they're not front-line staff" is obvious nonsense. What if the stuff they were doing now has to be done by front-line staff?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3w9y9dpv5qo

#NHS #NHSCrisis

I mean how many times have you heard the media report "Trump said he would impose 20% tariffs on European helicopters" when what he actually said was "Tariffs are the greatest! I think they're really great! I ... er ... what did I come in here for? By the way, my friend Putin, he's such a great man! Anyway, those things I just talked about, I ... er ... I'm going to make Europeland pay them on, er, those whirly flying things, and did I say that I'm a really great president?"

#trump #sanewashing