Green Party UK member in York, UK. Retired (emeritus) Prof in Interactive Systems Design. Posting & boosting stuff when I think it's interesting. #ClimateJustice #Cycling #FLOSS #GreenParty
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2026-08-29T15:28:21Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden and a great boost to the economy of Pontefract, West Yorkshire npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. 😢 npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 'surveillance pricing' seems too technical a term to really drive resistance. What about some alternatives? AI Gouging? npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden Fair competition is not theft? npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden Ha Joon Chang has some advice in his 23 Things book. There is a chapter on governments can pick winners. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden sadly, crises seem to be the only things that generate the conditions for any kind of positive re-alignments. 😥 npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden another argument for clear labelling of any AI/LLM content as a basic regulatory requirement? npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden part of the problem is treating organnisations, companies and corporations as legal persons. That needs to stop. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden For overall number of councillors, this site provides interesting historical data: npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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)? npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden a real bedroom tax (on everyone)? npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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? npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden subsidise ;-) npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden it is close to Malton, North Yorkshire. Kirby Misperton to be precise - also famous for a fracking struggle! npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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/ npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden Another big turnout for #HannahSpencer in #gortonanddenton today! npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden I seem to remember a phrase from Thatcher's playbook about "management's right to manage". Does it always come back to class? npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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? npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden it's a thing of beauty- perhaps that's all the justification needed! npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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). npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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)? npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden virtual ward? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_ward?wprov=sfla1 npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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? npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. 🤔 npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden really?? Do you think that might be true? Is your view of our media landscape that cynical? 🤔😉 npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden the police might well be doing that, but the media might think that some crimes are more equal than others. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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 npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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 npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden internal elections in the #greenparty (of E&W) are STV and always have RON (reopen nominations) as a candidate. npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden "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' npub13ks9neq98v9h82zn80jp9h87z7qx4hl7etmxrggxrm7st2u72hfqhndymt Andy Dearden 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.
