Jules @afewbugs@librem.one

I can get as excited as the next person at cutting edge clean technologies. But I also love the simple solutions, the folk wisdom, the public domain knowledge that we can apply to live well and equitably within planetary limits. Here are a few of my favorites - what are yours?

- the bicycle
- the cover crop
- the compost pile
- the hand-me-down chain
- the mending circle
- the live music evening
- the repair cafe
- the library
- the shade tree
- the rain garden
- the sidewalk

Thesis: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a Hellraiser film.

Willy Wonka is a cenobite. The factory itself is a strange dimension of supersaturated sensation, accessed by way of a rare gilded artifact. Most of those who enter: consumed by ironic amplifications of their own desires and obsessions. Charlie: a potential acolyte, his own obsession with the possibilities of experience carrying him through until he is offered induction into the higher offices of the realm.

We need to understand the stakes of social media not just for the Internet but Planet Earth.

Meta already tried to sell Internet Basics to developing countries. This was a naked attempt to lock underprivileged people into their walled gardens.

"But so what?" apologists might say, "They got free Internet."

Except Internet Basics wasn't so free -- it ended up hurting people instead of helping them. https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/25/22900924/facebooks-free-internet-less-developed-costing-users-wsj

Let's get #SciArt flowing into Mastodon!
What are some of your #SciArt (science-themed art) works you want to highlight? I will boost.

After trying many different media over the years (including drawing, embroidery etc) I found love in pottery. Now I make pottery pieces that highlight underappreciated organisms. Here are some examples of #worms, #jellyfish, #insects, #spiders etc. These are all boxes with lids!
#pottery #ceramics #HandBuiltPottery

Today is the #WinterSolstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year ❄️

This marks the beginning of lengthening days, leading up to the Summer Solstice in June. We get a little more sun from now on!

📷: Mike McKenzie

#SaveButterflies #MothsMatter

This feels appropriate for the second thing I've ever posted to mastodon.

someone once asked me why i was so worried about the environment

i just said "i live there"

and they looked at me as if that fact had never once occurred to them

I gave it a sniff. It smells like bullshit

I'm sick of people saying it's easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of #capitalism. I think about the end of capitalism every day. Today I imagined what it would be like to live in a community that valued me for being present rather than "useful" or "productive." In that world, I think I would spend a lot more time taking care of plants. I would tell stories when I felt like it, instead of on deadline. What do you imagine? #imaginetheendofcapitalism

2022 favourite photo roundup - Over the summer there were a few days when the beaches were awash with these beautiful gems. These are sea gooseberries (Pleurobrachia pileus). They may look like jellyfish (phylum Cnidaria) but they are in fact Ctenophores. These are gelatinous like jellyfish, but do not sting. Instead, the sea gooseberry uses sticky tentacles to capture prey.

#marinebiology #sea #ocean #biology #wildlife #nature #intertidal #seagooseberry #norfolk

I support striking nurses and here's why.

They've bloody well asked me to. My support for workers withdrawing their labour is not conditional upon whether I think it is a good idea or not. I trust them to understand their workplaces, their issues, and how that affects them better than I do.

Solidarity means exactly that.

#NursesStrike #ISupportNurses #Solidarity

Seven hours in, and so far all the votes have gone the right way… a few by only a narrow margin. Some of the language has been shameful. I still think the Bill will pass comfortably.
But we all owe an apology for the handling of this Issue. There have been years of delay, and that has allowed toxic transphobia to grow to frightening levels.
More work lies ahead, like improving trans healthcare and a ban on conversion practices. We must not repeat the same mistakes.

What's the best way to debunk a misleading graph? 📊

A new study suggests that providing an "accurate alternative" is most effective.

Misleading graphs can omit baselines to exaggerate differences and cherry-pick sections of data to hide greater trends. The other methods tested included providing a warning arrow pointing to the issue or an educational or general text warning next to the graph.

https://doi.org/10.22323/2.21070207
#SciComm #ResearchIntegrity #Misinformation #Science @academicchatter

A "radio station" which plays music from your instance of choice (looking for tagged YouTube posts)

🔊 https://radio.eldritch.cafe/ 🥳

/via @Ground

#FediRadio

Once again - there is no current unmet medical or ethical need for Musk's brain chips.

"The 5 December report identified four experiments in recent years involving 86 pigs and two monkeys that were marred by human errors. The mistakes weakened the experiments’ research value and required the tests to be repeated, leading to more animals being killed."

#Neuralink #ElonMusk

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/20/neuralink-animal-testing-musk-investigation

I love trees, it always amazes me when they take root in strange places.
I always look out for this one when passing.

Taken at the side of the A832 heading to Gairloch.

#Trees #photography #tenacity #nature

Fediverse: I’m looking for places to donate some money before the end of the year—especially interested in supporting trans and other Black women and women of color, indigenous sovereignty, global climate justice, reproductive rights. What are your suggestions of effective organizations? Please #boost so I can get more ideas! #donation #justicework (@BlackAzizAnansi can you help?)

(begin quote)

"Let's get something straight. Growing old doesn't make people #conservative. In fact the more marginalized identity statuses a person has, the LESS conservative they grow over time.
The reason we equate "old" with "conservative" is that #marginalization kills people off younger.

Some of the most radical people you know are old.

It's just a lot of others died before they could get there, so there's a diminishing proportion. (2/5)

I was today years old when I found out that Fly Me To The Moon is a gay love song!
Composer Bart Howard wrote the song for his partner Thomas Fowler. They were together for 58 years! ❤️🏳️‍🌈