@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk cover
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

georgepotter

@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk

Liberal Democrat councillor for Burpham ward, and Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change on Guildford Borough Council and councillor for Guildford East on Surrey County Council.

Also working as a software developer. Member of #Prospect union. All views my own. Tooting an eclectic mix of politics, geekery and whatever else takes my fancy.

Pronouns: he/him.

Facebook: facebook.com/georgepotterlibdem

#LibDems #Guildford #politicsUK #ClimateChange

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

rbreich , to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

The Biden FTC is on a roll.

It banned noncompete clauses.

It blocked the Kroger/Albertsons merger that would send grocery bills skyrocketing.

Now it's taking action against Adobe for allegedly trapping users in pricey subscriptions.

This is government working for the people.

georgepotter ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

@rbreich All incredibly welcome, but let's not forget that the traditional big industry approach to this kind of action is just to spend money dragging out the legal battles until a. Republican president gets in and kills the action against the corporates.

Starting the ball rolling is welcome but it's going to be a decade before we'll know whether it's succeeded or not.

Nonilex , to random
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Morgan Spurlock, ‘Super Size Me’ filmmaker, dies at 53

, a documentary who chronicled a month of watching his body swell & his mood sink from eating only ’s meals in 2004 Oscar-nominated , died May 23 at age 53.
Spurlock’s family confirmed his death from cancer, but gave no other details.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/05/24/morgan-spurlock-supersize-documentary-dies/

georgepotter ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

@Nonilex except none of his results could be replicated and the entire documentary has been retrospectively revealed to be mostly a scam.

Fast food isn't good for you, but the health problems he experienced weren't down to eating McDonalds.

Natasha_Jay , to random
@Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt avatar

I'd be interested in views on whether the July GE, proroguing UK Parliament, and 'purdah' rules for the Civil Service and Ministers will put a halt to the Tory 'culture wars' motivated consultations on:

  • England & Wales (statutory) schools guidance on sex education - aka Section 28 reprise
  • England & Wales (non-statutory) guidance on treatment of trans kids in schools

These are not Bills, so thoughts appreciated!

#UK #UKPol #Ukpolitics #ge2024 #Purdah #Section28 #Trans

georgepotter ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

@Natasha_Jay all that stuff should be going on hold. All consultations and government policy activity are basically paused in the run up to the GE. My colleagues at work involved in policy stuff and consultations are already all putting their work on pause until after the GE.

georgepotter ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

@Natasha_Jay the Rwanda one will be very interesting to watch for that reason. I suspect there may be tension between the government and the civil service on what is and isn't appropriate for purdah in that regard...

loren , to random
@loren@flipping.rocks avatar

okay but nine inch snails would be some pretty big snails i would like to see those in person

georgepotter ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

@loren sadly Giant African Land Snails are banned in the USA, as otherwise you could go see one pretty easily

breadandcircuses , to random
@breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social avatar

You've all heard the (true) story about the rapid growth of reindeer population on St. Matthew Island, followed by a stunning collapse, right?

If not, you can read about it here -- https://www.resilience.org/stories/2003-11-22/st-matthew-island-overshoot-collapse/
Or check out this cartoon -- https://www.stuartmcmillen.com/comic/st-matthew-island/#page-1

But the question is, could the same thing happen to humans? Our population has risen at a similarly rapid pace over the last several decades. Do we face the same fate as those reindeer?

That's the subject of a scientific paper authored by William Rees, Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia --

"The Human Ecology of Overshoot: Why a Major Population Correction Is Inevitable"
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/4/3/32#

It's a chilling question to consider, but one we must not ignore. The fact is that infinite growth cannot be sustained on a finite planet. Either we change our ways, or nature will do it for us.

georgepotter ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

@breadandcircuses I seriously question the premise of this.

There is a wealth of research showing that the projected peak human population can absolutely be supported on the planet sustainably simply through better, and more equitable, use of resources. And it's worth remembering that the overall population trend will naturally be downwards by 2100.

Is it possible that failure to deal with climate catastrophe could kill billions? Only if we refuse to change our economic systems.

saddestrobots , to random
@saddestrobots@jorts.horse avatar

i bet you could destroy a cybertruck by peeing on it

georgepotter ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

@saddestrobots you'd certainly ruin the appearance (stains at the drop of a hat) and if you're dehydrated then you might make it start rusting...

rbreich , to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

Remember: Almost all of us are the descendants of immigrants who fled persecution, or were brought to America under duress, or simply sought better lives for themselves and their descendants.

Donald Trump wants to stoke so much fear and hatred that people forget this.

Do not.

georgepotter ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

@rbreich I completely endorse the sentiment here, but I feel like someone should point out that more correct language would:

a) Recognise that they were mostly colonisers, not immigrants.

b) Recognise that many fled not from persecution but from societies that wouldn't let them persecute others the way they wanted to.

c) Acknowledge that the survivors of the people whom the land was stolen from actually still exist and aren't wild about rewriting the above as a heroic immigrant story.

georgepotter , to random
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

Jesus Christ, this is utterly horrific:

During the early weeks of the war they were permitted to kill 15 or 20 civilians during airstrikes on low-ranking militants. Attacks on such targets were typically carried out using unguided munitions known as “dumb bombs”, the sources said, destroying entire homes and killing all their occupants.

“You don’t want to waste expensive bombs on unimportant people" said one intelligence officer.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes

georgepotter , to random
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

Gonna join in on the discourse, as I have a nuanced take.

ActivityPub is a genuinely good protocol, the fact that a big tech company is using it is good for speeding the adoption of that protocol, even if I think that big tech shouldn't control social media.

I think it's a good thing that a lot of the is blocking threads, but I'm also glad that I'm on a server that isn't blocking threads.

georgepotter OP ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

The biggest risk of seems to be in terms of enabling toxic behaviour and malicious people to pollute safe spaces and target people who've tried to get away from spaces controlled by big tech.

And the people who face the biggest risk from this are, inevitably, those who are queer or people of colour or any other group who society already treats badly. So keeping spaces safe from threads is important, & it makes sense that people don't want to be on instances which federate with threads.

georgepotter OP ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

And, unsurprisingly, the kind of people who don't want to listen to those concerns, or want to find a way to move past them are people predominantly like me: white liberals for whom doesn't pose any kind of safety or harassment or trolling concern in the first place.

However, despite acknowledging that, I'm still glad that I'm on a server that hasn't blocked threads. Because there are people I like who are on threads and I want to be able to follow them.

georgepotter OP ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

And after much soul-searching on this, I still don't think that wanting to follow the occasional account on from mastodon (such as a news account or a friend) is going to cause toxicity to spill onto and contaminate the instance that I'm on because it's already a large, geographically focused instance which, although well-moderated, isn't many people's definition of a safe space anyway. And I think this is where the decentralised nature of the is a virtue actually.

georgepotter OP ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

I think it's a good thing that the majority of instances seem to be blocking , especially those instances which are safe spaces for those who face harassment and attacks elsewhere on the internet. Those spaces need to stay safe and blocking threads is a great way to keep them what way.

But that also means those instances aren't going to be harmed if other instances decide not to block threads. And that gives people a choice, which is good.

georgepotter OP ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

The reality is that, for most people, there is absolutely no utility in following accounts on let alone seeing posts from them.

But for those of us who have, for instance, a crocheting cousin who uses threads to promote their wares, then choosing to be on an instance which allows us to follow said cousin on threads doesn't cause any harm to the rest of the , because people on instances who've blocked threads will never even see a re-post from threads, even if they follow me.

georgepotter OP ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

And this is where I think the discourse around seems to get a bit over the top at times.

Meta aren't going to be able to take control of, or destroy, mastodon or the just because a few instances choose not to block threads. And if some instances don't block threads then it increases the likelihood that threads users will migrate to mastodon in the long run.

But those instances that do block threads can keep the majority of the fediverse clean from threads at the same time.

georgepotter OP ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

I mean call me crazy, but I think different people being able to make different choices for themselves and their communities online seems like a positive thing, and not something where we need to get in arguments with each other about and whether it being part of the fediverse is a good or a bad thing.

And I worry that maybe this is my white liberal naivite speaking, but this genuinely seems like a situation where it doesn't have to be one size fits all.

georgepotter OP ,
@georgepotter@mastodonapp.uk avatar

Also, maybe it's just me being spectacularly ignorant here, but I seriously have yet to see a convincing explanation of how some instances federating with will somehow allow Meta to destroy the

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • test
  • worldmews
  • mews
  • All magazines
    •