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Last Notes

2026-07-11 21:36:50 CEST

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and a great boost to the economy of Pontefract, West Yorkshire

2026-07-04 09:50:25 CEST

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I am very impressed that the good citizens of Shieldag pay enough tax to provide a public convenience for visitors. Local councils across the UK are so strapped for cash and it is not a statutory function. 😢

2026-05-26 09:39:10 CEST

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'surveillance pricing' seems too technical a term to really drive resistance. What about some alternatives? AI Gouging?

2026-05-21 15:08:55 CEST

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It's worth noting that probably the largest single class of resources that the Greens put into Gorton and Denton was individual members buying rail tickets, bus tickets, tram tickets or sharing cars to get to Manchester. Given the debate about the desirability of contesting Makerfield, there might be fewer volunteers choosing to pitch in. The Green Party doesn't _control_ the primary resources needed in these by-elections.

2026-05-16 09:39:42 CEST

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Fair competition is not theft?

2026-05-16 09:38:44 CEST

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Ha Joon Chang has some advice in his 23 Things book. There is a chapter on governments can pick winners.

2026-05-13 15:25:39 CEST

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sadly, crises seem to be the only things that generate the conditions for any kind of positive re-alignments. 😥

2026-05-13 14:27:34 CEST

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first, we need the political will to challenge the growth myth - all those 'growth engines' are handcarts taking our world to a rather unpleasant destination.

2026-05-13 13:52:45 CEST

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another argument for clear labelling of any AI/LLM content as a basic regulatory requirement?

2026-05-13 10:20:35 CEST

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TBF reading the stuff from Gallup, it doesn't suggest using simulations to drive policy. It is worth remembering that these agencies do political polling mainly to advertise ytheir capabilities. They make their money out of polling for corporate planning / marketing. I think LLMs are the work of Satan(TM)/s, but I am not too worried by this particular idea.

2026-05-10 20:28:47 CEST

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part of the problem is treating organnisations, companies and corporations as legal persons. That needs to stop.

2026-05-09 10:48:19 CEST

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For overall number of councillors, this site provides interesting historical data:
https://opencouncildata.co.uk/history.php
In terms of the impact of 374 gains for GPEW, here's the GPEW press release from 2025 local elections https://greenparty.org.uk/2025/05/03/record-high-for-green-party-after-county-council-elections/

2026-04-11 12:55:41 CEST

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it is worth mentioning that you (like me) represent a minority of carers who happen to be male. See history of feminist arguments around wages for housework. (& childcare)?

2026-04-01 08:23:36 CEST

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a real bedroom tax (on everyone)?

2026-03-26 16:27:14 CET

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it would be interesting correlate this with public transport distances from areas of deprivation. Is it the boost provided from the middle to the top, or the leg up from exclusion to inclusion?

2026-03-20 10:42:09 CET

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the key thing is that Labour has preferred managerialism within existing power structures and wealth distribution, rather than challenging and arguing the need to change those structures and redistribute wealth.

2026-03-14 10:36:21 CET

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Perhaps someone will correct me, but I thought I saw something about China having interchangeable battery pack standards so that you could just switch to a new 'fully charged' battery en-route.

2026-03-14 10:34:13 CET

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subsidise ;-)

2026-02-24 15:08:28 CET

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it is close to Malton, North Yorkshire. Kirby Misperton to be precise - also famous for a fracking struggle!

2026-02-23 15:50:14 CET

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Interesting analysis, but it's notable that the article is dated February 20, 2026 12.57pm GMT - whereas the omnisis survey data (sample size 452 - a bit bigger than the Caerphilly example mentioned by the article) was also published on the same day. Omnisis shows Greens ahead of Reform and Labour, even before tactical voting is introduced. Also - all tactical voting sites have come out advising #VoteGreen. 🤞 🤞 🤞 #GortonAndDenton https://www.omnisis.co.uk/poll-result/constituency-polling-for-by-election-in-gorton-and-denton/

2026-02-22 17:08:46 CET

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It's worth noting how these parties actually handle their internal elections. Labour use AV for candidate selection. Greens use STV for candidate selection and multi-seat committees, and always include RON (re-open nominations) as an option. Green commitment to PR is actually baked in at a very foundational level.

2026-02-21 18:29:42 CET

Another big turnout for #HannahSpencer in #gortonanddenton today!
https://files.mastodon.green/media_attachments/files/116/109/801/603/475/388/original/9ccdbceb23f7de15.jpg

2026-02-10 09:59:29 CET

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I seem to remember a phrase from Thatcher's playbook about "management's right to manage". Does it always come back to class?

2026-02-08 13:02:36 CET

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the Greens are not being played. Greens have come quick oout of the blocks and have the momentum. It's labour who risk splitting the progressive vote. If they had any shame about their awful track record since 2024, they would stand down in G&D and spend time developing a better overall political strategy. Which should include scrapping FPTP.

2026-01-30 10:37:31 CET

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would citizens assemblies be a potential simulation of Habermasian dialogues? Perhaps more impotantly, would the wider social discourse take any notice of the outputs from such assemblies? Which voices would our media overlords choose to promote?

2026-01-19 21:03:37 CET

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it's a thing of beauty- perhaps that's all the justification needed!

2026-01-01 10:30:58 CET

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yes it's mostly in asset valuations- but control of assets is being used to gain control of policy and politics. The distribution of power creates a positive feedback loop to the distribution of wealth (and therefore of poverty).

2025-12-29 22:08:43 CET

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that struck me as a risk. Glass half full - it allows those carers who are available to participate and contribute to their loved ones' care. Glass half empty - patients are hidden away at home and isolated, so the crisis in health and care is out of sight (and out of our collective political mind)?

2025-12-29 19:45:14 CET

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virtual ward? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_ward?wprov=sfla1

2025-12-12 20:46:56 CET

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so what are the feasible steps in a democratic programme to curtail the rights of corporations - and how can we focus political debates on changing these abstract features of our social contract?

2025-12-12 18:36:33 CET

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I really like the idea of a legal system that recognises the difference between human persons and corporate organisations. I'm not convinced that ours really does. 🤔

2025-12-12 16:27:26 CET

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I wonder whether monetary taxation is really a viable approach to redistribution in the current climate. The wealth of the billionaire class is mainly in the form of shares in their monopolistic corporations, not cash. The key problem is to assert some kind of democratic social control on those corporations to stop their ecosystem killing behaviours. Just collecting some cash to provide basic standards for everyone in a few countries seems like a very limited ambition.

2025-11-24 16:25:36 CET

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really?? Do you think that might be true? Is your view of our media landscape that cynical? 🤔😉

2025-11-24 08:01:45 CET

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the police might well be doing that, but the media might think that some crimes are more equal than others.

2025-11-23 19:42:20 CET

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what bothers me is that when these crimes are reported there is no attempt to put them in any statistical context - eg how many crimes of that type are reported every week? It means we only hear about crimes committed by people of some specific minority background - whether that's ethnicity, immigration status, religion or whatever - with predictable results

2025-11-03 22:06:46 CET

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just for context, SHU and UCU are currently in dispute around redundancies and closures of various units. Standing up to external pressure (especially. without insurance cover) could have significant costs with implications for many other staff. -https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/14239/Mass-strikes-to-hit-University-of-Sheffield--Sheffield-Hallam-in-November-and-December-over-job-cuts
Defending academic freedom needs a collective effort that shares out that burden somehow. Is it too simple to just pillory the accountants?
Full disclosure: it's SHU that provides my emeritus status.

2025-10-26 11:49:34 CET

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when I have attended counts for local and national elections, I have generally found that candidates are very interested by the content of spoiled papers. I actually think it's a valuable way of engaging with the process. If the choice is between people staying at home, or turning out and spoiling their ballot, I would prefer to see the latter.

2025-10-26 11:45:01 CET

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internal elections in the #greenparty (of E&W) are STV and always have RON (reopen nominations) as a candidate.

2025-10-04 21:25:33 CEST

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"Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral." —The Politics of Education Paulo Friere - I have always viewed claims that someone was 'not political' as simply 'I am happy with the current status quo'

2025-09-16 10:45:44 CEST

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just to be clear - neither assaulting police officers, nor calling for the overthrow of the UK government really qualify as terrorism on their own. Perhaps a sustained campaign of violence against the public and police organised with that intention. Calling for (Musk) and organising (Yaxley Lennon) might meet a reasonable definition.