Thirteen

As another weekend of Barclay’s Premier League football gets underway, and a massacre is still unfolding in El Fasher, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the same people who are funding the slaughter in Sudan also own Manchester City Football Club.

It is a national disgrace.

Terrible idea. Seriously, let us just wrap ourselves up in a comfort blanket of soothing voices who already agree with us, while the world explodes around us.
🙄

Data protection rules ‘completely out of control’, Meta tells Government Facebook owner asked Government to lead pushback against data protection laws at EU level

Facebook owner asked Government to lead pushback against data protection laws at EU level

www.irishtimes.com/technology/b...

the gluttony of zuckerberg knows no bounds. these guys must take the public for imbeciles

In correspondence to Mr O’Callaghan, Meta said the EU’s data laws should be revised to take better account of “economic interests” and private sector innovation. Meta asked for the Government’s support in taking concerns about the “ineffectiveness” of the existing data protection framework to Ireland’s EU commissioner Michael McGrath, who oversees GDPR rules in his role as justice commissioner. Dublin could also flag the company’s concerns to other European governments, Ms Egan suggested. “We would be grateful for your support for these changes, and for your advocacy at European level to achieve them,” the Meta executive wrote. The correspondence between Meta and Mr O’Callaghan was released to The Irish Times in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. A spokeswoman for Meta said the company did not have any comments to add beyond what it had set out in the letter. A Department of Justice spokesman said Ireland supported the commission’s plan to simplify EU data protection laws. Though any changes had to “get the balance right”, by reducing some administrative burden, “while continuing to protect the fundamental rights of citizens”, he said.

gee, won’t regulators think of the poor multi-billioners profiting out of theft, environmental destruction, and shitty and harmful tech they keep pushing aggressively into the public

I was selfish and took the milestone episode to explain why we must get off US tech, some options that are already available to us, but also why our governments need to step up.

We can’t keep allowing the US government and Silicon Valley billionaires to have so much power over us!

I just rewatch Hocus Pocus because Bette Midler is the queen.

Literally whenever Claudia turns up in any shot #celebritytraitors

Honestly, the more these people opine on how awful the UK is, the more I am reminded of how much - for all its problems and indisputable weirdness - I really rather love it.

Lactose intolerance

Well.

Elemental: How we will live in a warming world I'm excited to share with you the cover of my upcoming book, out in March.

🚨🚨My book, Elemental, is out in March🚨🚨
But you can pre-order it now from Amazon & Waterstones. Amazon will lock in any future discount.
Why, I hear you ask?

Because *it's my 50th birthday today*

(Prosaic reason - it helps immensely if we get good pre-orders.)

open.substack.com/pub/arthursn...

My open letter to Rachel Reeves (cc @ofcom.bsky.social, DSIT)

Now O2 has broken the taboo, the big risk is other firms will likely follow suit... the Govt must step in to stop mobile, broadband and pay-TV firms increasing prices mid-contract by MORE than they said they would when people sign up.

Donate to Secure the Rothbury Estate | The Wildlife Trusts Stretching over 3,800 hectares, the Rothbury Estate in Northumberland is abundant with opportunity. It’s the largest continuous area of land to appear on the market in 50 years. Its sale creates a uni...

The UK is among the most nature depleted counties in the world. A horrendous fact. Can you help reverse this by donating some cash to help the Wildlife Trusts buy the enormous Rothbury Estate so they can bring back wildlife? www.wildlifetrusts.org/appeals/roth...

Love this!

What a fun little game, if you're a London underground stan.
tubedoku.com

God I love her.

Sultana’s been hanging out with tankies again

Fantastic thread

Equality is a garden that needs constant tending, because the weeds never stop growing.

Farage: epic grifter

Lithuania shuts down airports for 3rd night in row, closes border crossings indefinitely due to balloons from Belarus "Contraband" balloons launched from Belarus have disrupted air traffic four times in the last week. Lithuania has closed border crossings with Belarus for "an indefinite period" in response.

⚡️Lithuania shuts down airports for 3rd night in row, closes border crossings indefinitely due to balloons from Belarus.

Balloons launched from Belarus have disrupted air traffic four times in the last week. Lithuania has closed its border with Belarus for "an indefinite period" in response.

Black and white photo of a very pretty white and tabby medium haired cat peeking in a screen door. It looks polite but slightly impatient.

Waiting politely. From a negative in my collection, no date/info.

Australia sues Microsoft for misleading Microsoft 365 users Asia In Brief: PLUS: China demotes tech self-sufficiency goal; Alibaba Cloud quietly quits VMware; India demands deepfake labels; and more!

Good on Australia for doing this! It’s such a deceptive practice to tell customers their price is increasing because of AI, when the old price is still available without genAI but only if you try to cancel.

Huuuuugs

the 'AI is the only solution to education' cult-like-mentality is scary

A leaked memo, a Maga-style hat and a trail of broken pledges – it’s Labour’s great housing betrayal | Aditya Chakrabortty Ignore the bombast: Steve ‘build, baby, build’ Reed’s boast looks likely to end in targets more pathetic than they are now, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

Horrifying piece that shows exactly how Labour minister is dancing to the tune of biggest profit-driven developers & failing to meet pledges on new homes & on affordability. Worse, they don’t even seem to care 👇

What Happened When AI Came for Craft Beer A prominent beer competition introduced an AI-judging tool without warning. The judges and some members of the wider brewing industry were pissed.

“It is attempting to solve a problem that wasn’t a problem before AI showed up" is ABSOLUTELY the defining quote about how AI gets rolled out in every use

www.404media.co/what-happene...

Great news for people who consider themselves Real Men

What.
No.
Seriously?
Noooooo

NEW: We need to talk about Russia.

So, yes, that's why we need to talk about Nigel Farage.

My personal newsletter on the story behind the story. Brexit, Trump, Russia & now...Nathan Gill.

open.substack.com/pub/broligar...