In yet another Orwellian move, the Government announced in a green paper this week that it wants to decide what news people can and cannot see, with plans to push approved outlets to the top of social media feeds.
Ministers should not be deciding which news sources the public read — especially in an era when three-quarters of under-25s say they get their news from social media.
As written in The Times, “In a state-sponsored regime in which inconvenient news was pushed out of view, would the grooming gangs scandal or the excesses of transgender ideology ever have come to light? You shouldn’t choose to trust everything you read online; but you shouldn’t trust the state to make the choice for you, either”.
This is dystopian.
Read more below in @thetimes 👇
Starlink is preparing to become a full-fledged mobile carrier
The telecom industry could be about to undergo one of its biggest shifts in decades
According to the Financial Times, SpaceX plans to launch a direct-to-consumer mobile service, taking on AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile head-on
The foundation is already in place:
• $17B+ acquisition of EchoStar wireless spectrum
• FCC approval secured
• Exclusive spectrum for next-generation Direct-to-Cell services
Instead of relying on carrier partnerships, Starlink could soon sell mobile plans directly to consumers
The dazzling Himalayan monal in flight
With its iridescent rainbow feathers, the Himalayan monal is one of the world's most spectacular pheasants. Native to the Himalayas, it is also Nepal's national bird and thrives at elevations of up to 4,500 metres (14,800 feet)
I think it’s worth including this exchange to show that I am not exaggerating when I say that @EnvAgency does indeed regularly threaten to prosecute those who improve the environment without their permission.
@paulpowlesland Can you not pay some local deprived kids to release some cash off the record . Something must be done to help these poor creatures that deserve a fair chance in the world ?
A stunning reminder of why we cannot give up on our rivers yesterday, as I stumbled across an adult eel on the Roding for the first time, lounging in the shallows in the shade of a council tower block & within earshot of the North Circular.
This now rare & magical sight used to be common, until eel populations crashed on the Roding in the 1980’s & have not recovered. Seeking to understand & reverse this population crash should surely be a key role for the governments environmental regulator, but as usual they have done nothing to improve water quality or remove barriers to eel migration. Worse, they are actively blocking my efforts to help the eel population recover.
Ordinarily, baby eels (elvers) for restocking are expensive to buy. However, I managed to secure a kind donation of elvers from fishermen on the River Severn (where the elvers often get stuck behind barriers on the river). I applied for my @EnvAgency restocking permit like a good boy & all they had to do to help recover eel populations on the Roding was to say yes. Perhaps predictably, my application was rejected, because there was no positive evidence that reintroducing eels to the Roding would be a good thing. Perhaps most annoyingly, my application to restock eels on the Roding was rejected because reintroducing them would interfere with the EA’s monitoring of their continued decline.
I asked what would happen if I went ahead & released the elvers anyway & was told that the EA would fine me up to £50,000. Yet another example of the malevolent uselessness of the EA: obsessed with procedure, but will do absolutely sod all to actually reverse the decline in our rivers.
The Free Speech Union’s founder and General Secretary, Lord Young, told ARC that trans ideology is a threat to free speech.
He said people who simply want to get on with their jobs are being harassed and bullied by colleagues and powerful HR departments that promote trans ideology and silence those who challenge it.
Lord Young said: “You often hear an argument against cancel culture. People say, ‘Look at J.K. Rowling. She’s still one of the richest women in England. People say she’s been cancelled, but she hasn’t been cancelled. She’s still a powerful, widely read author.’
“But actually, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The people you don’t see are ordinary people, particularly those working in the public sector, who are bullied by diversity-crats and HR officers because they ask innocent questions about whether they have to share, for instance, a lavatory with a biological man.”
Men raping other men is indeed horrific
But actual real vulnerable women - are not a shield for the subset of vulnerable men who happen to claim trans identities
@PompeySteph
Dear Steph: Not wanting women, particularly those in confined situations, to be subject to violence from trans-identified males, is not applauding the rape of anyone. But then, accuracy has not be one of your strong points.
A secret government unit has been trying to control the narrative in Belfast.
The Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) — a government-sponsored propaganda body that operates out of the Home Office — has been advising the police on how to “control the narrative” during the riots in Belfast following an alleged attempt by a Sudanese migrant to behead a man in the street.
According to a source: “They are working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s C3 intelligence unit to identify those posting the online ‘calls to protest’ in Belfast and other areas, as well as giving strategic messages to the police to ensure that the protesters were portrayed as unsympathetic thugs.”
The source also said that the unit had been advising the police in Southampton in the aftermath of Henry Nowak’s murder.
Read more below 👇
A secret government unit has been trying to control the narrative in Belfast.
The Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) — a government-sponsored propaganda body that operates out of the Home Office — has been advising the police on how to “control the narrative” during the riots in Belfast following an alleged attempt by a Sudanese migrant to behead a man in the street.
According to a source: “They are working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s C3 intelligence unit to identify those posting the online ‘calls to protest’ in Belfast and other areas, as well as giving strategic messages to the police to ensure that the protesters were portrayed as unsympathetic thugs.”
The source also said that the unit had been advising the police in Southampton in the aftermath of Henry Nowak’s murder.
Read more below 👇
A single toad in your yard can eat thousands of pest insects over a single summer. One cheap June project gives them a place to hide out over winter.
Find a terracotta pot, ideally 12-14 in diameter, remove the drainage plug, and bury it on its side in a shady corner of the yard, flush with the ground. Pack the inside loosely with leaf litter and leave a clear entrance.
You've built a toad hibernaculum. Toads need a frost-free place to overwinter underground, and a buried pot gives them exactly that. They find these within a season if toads are anywhere in your neighborhood.