Mr MT

@mremtee.bsky.social

1484 Followers 2073 Following

Ecosocialist Born 320.23ppm Climate Justice 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

It's best to understand that fascists see hypocrisy as a virtue. It's how they signal that the things they are doing to people were never meant to be equally applied. It's not an inconsistency. It's very consistent to the only true fascist value, which is domination. A.R. Moxon, @JuliusGoat@mastodon.social + @juliusgoat.bsky.social. December 21, 2022 on Mastodon.
Scene of a wildfire with large flames and smoke with an orange cloud obscuring the sky.
Screenshot of social media post from a local councillor in Llandudno in north Wales. “Weed spraying: There's been a bit of commentary on social media about Conwy County Borough Council carrying out weeding spraying this summer. The Council's contractors are due to start in the town this week. This year two treatments are expected - good to see the Council u-turning on its decision to only spray one per year. I know that a number of people have concerns about whether the herbicide used - I get these concerns and have raised them myself. The herbicide in use is environmentally friendly and is safe to be used in open areas used by the public and their pets.”
Screenshot of FIT Count app. This is the app referred to in the quoted post.
Here's what those who argue you can 'just adapt' to the climate crisis don't get: you don't just adapt once; you have to keep adapting, over and over again, until the global economy either reaches net zero emissions or civilisation collapses - whichever comes first.
A blue sky with a solitary swift in the top right corner of the image. A brown bird with long, pointed wings spread.
Cartoon showing a traffic jam with every car with a single occupant all sharing the same thought “If these idiots would just take the bus, I could be home by now”
Improving resilience Preparing for the future not only means tackling the climate and nature emergencies, but also adapting to the changes they will bring to our environment. Without action, flooding and coastal erosion will pose greater risks to lives, livelihoods and people’s wellbeing. The Conservatives’ poor…
Screenshot of mastodon post from A.R. Moxon from 2022 “It's best to understand that fascists see hypocrisy as a virtue. It's how they signal that the things they are doing to people were never meant to be equally applied. It's not an inconsistency. It's very consistent to the only true fascist value, which is domination.”
A speckled wood butterfly sitting on a fern. A medium sized brown butterfly with white spots on its wings.
Screenshot from Guardian newspaper article about scientific research uncovering a possible explanation for the mayflies’ dance (the image shows a still of three mayflies in flight) In the same article is this statement about threats to the existence of mayflies. “Other research suggests that even modest pollution in many English rivers may be enough to kill up to 80% of mayfly eggs, laid in riverbeds. For now, Fabian encourages Britons to relish the ancient spectacle while they still can.”
An AI generated image of dancing penguins from the Happy Feet movie.
Screenshot from a video shared by the Guardian newspaper. It shows the aftermath of a US-Israeli strike on a girl’s school in Minab, Iran. The image shows an almost completely destroyed building, still smoking from the missile blast, and dozens of distraught people standing in the rubble.
Knitted blanket in olive green, white, and gold cotton. The blanket is not yet finished.
Painting showing two sad looking figures in 19th century clothing sitting at a table. The text at the top says “When the staff meeting is about to end and someone asks another question”
The empty shell of a fallen apple lying amongst grass and autumn leaves. The apple skin has a large hole in one side and the whole inside has been eaten, leaving only some pecked marks inside to show that it was the blackbirds.
Photo from a Guardian newspaper article about the recent storm. It shows a woman in a pink coat and jeans crouched beside a red car that has been completely crushed by a large tree. The photo caption says, “Anna Richmond inspects the damage to her car which was crushed by fallen trees during Storm Goretti”
A still lake with rocks close to the shore and distant snow-covered mountains with low clouds.
Joint Statement on Greenland Statement by President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany, Prime Minister Meloni of Italy, Prime Minister Tusk of Poland, Prime Minister Sánchez of Spain, Prime Minister Starmer of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Frederiksen of Denmark on Greenland. Arctic security remains a key priority for Europe and it is critical for international and transatlantic security. NATO has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European Allies are stepping up. We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries. The Kingdom of Denmark - including Greenland - is part of NATO. Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, in conjunction with NATO allies including the United States, by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders. These are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them. The United States is an essential partner in this endeavour, as a NATO ally and through the defence agreement between the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States of 1951. Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.
Well known cartoon showing in six panels a climate scientist standing at a lectern. The first panel is dated 1990 with a young scientist saying “so, this climate change thing could be a problem” The cartoon goes through the many stages of increasingly urgent messaging. The final panel is the much older scientist in 2019 simply tapping the microphone and asking “is this thing on?”
Screenshot from the quoted article: The aims and key features of the Swiss system The primary goals of the Swiss system are (a) to ensure a high level of protection for human health and the environment and (b) to avoid trade barriers with its biggest trading partner, the EU. To deliver on these goals, the system has the following key features: * It follows a default position of alignment with EU regulations, known as ‘autonomous adaptation’. This retains the ability to take a different approach, although deviations are rare and relatively minor and can be more protective of public health and the environment.
Post from Matt Novak, quoting a tweet: “These freaks want territorial expansion and they know Trump will do everything he can to deliver. This isn’t just a tweet from some random asshole either. This is Stephen Miller’s wife. Miller was in the room with Trump during the kidnapping of Maduro.” Tweet shows a map of Greenland overlaid by the American flag with the word SOON.
The real bubble is not stock valuations but the inflated ego of an industry that thinks it is just one more datacentre away from computational divinity. When the correction comes, when the US’s Icarus economy hits the cold sea, there will be a chance for other voices to be heard on the subject of risk and regulation. It may not come in 2026, but the moment is nearing when the starkness of the choice on offer and the need to confront it becomes unavoidable. Should we build a world where AI is put to the service of humanity, or will it be the other way round? We won’t need ChatGPT to tell us the answer.
A buff-tailed bumblebee gathering pollen from ivy flowers. A small black and yellow bee with wings folded back. The bee has a lot of yellow pollen in the pollen basket on one of its legs.
Two small goldfinches balancing on the dry stems of knapweed flowers. They have brown bodies with black, white, and gold wing markings. They are carefully eating the seeds from the dried seed heads while the stems sway in a breeze. The birds are juveniles and do not yet have the black and red markings of adult birds on their heads.
Screenshot from Guardian newsfeed. “UN investigators say Israel committing genocide in Gaza UN investigators have determined that Israel has committed “genocide” in Gaza since October 2023, with the “intent to destroy the Palestinians” in the territory. “We came to the conclusion that genocide is occurring in Gaza and is continuing to occur, and the responsibility lies with the State of Israel,” Navi Pillay, head of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, told AFP.”
Screenshot from a 2024 Politics UK article, ‘Ed Miliband’s Vision for a Green Britain: Energy Security and Economic Opportunity’, quoting UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. A New Strategic Framework “Miliband began by reflecting on the shift from the “energy trilemma” of 2008—balancing affordability, security, and sustainability—to what he now calls the “clean energy imperative.” He argued that recent global events, particularly the energy crisis following the invasion of Ukraine, have exposed the shortcomings of fossil fuels as a source of both security and affordability. This reliance on volatile international markets has left the UK vulnerable, underscoring the need for a strategic pivot toward renewable energy. According to Miliband, the path to energy independence, stability, and affordability now lies in homegrown clean energy. The Clean Energy Imperative At the core of Miliband’s argument was the assertion that the answer to energy security, affordability, and sustainability is to accelerate investment in clean energy. He highlighted the dramatic decrease in the costs of renewables, making them not only the most sustainable choice but also the most economically viable. “British-based renewable energy is the cheapest and fastest way to reduce vulnerability to volatile global fossil fuel markets,” Miliband stated,”
Screenshot from Bloomberg story linked in post. Image shows a woman in a red apron at a market holding a fish on a set of scales. The headline says “Forever chemicals in fish far exceed EU limits across region”
Worker buff-tailed bumblebee seen from above with wings folded back over yellow band on abdomen. The buff coloured tail is visible and one leg with prominent yellow pouch full of pollen collected from ivy flowers which it is feeding on.
“Breaking News” from the Independent newspaper. “Healthy-looking Trump makes first appearance since health speculations over weekend.”
Headline in Belfast Telegraph from 2018 which quotes the father of Boris Johnson (pictured) saying “The Irish will shoot each other if they want to” during an interview about Brexit and the impact on cross border trade.
Headline from Telegraph newspaper “The best golden visas”. Sub headline says “Secure residency abroad, whether you’re looking for a warmer climate, tax perks or EU access - or all three”
Image is a screenshot from the Telegraph newspaper showing Boris Johnson’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, who was appointed spokesperson for COP26 President, Alok Sharma. In that role, she advised people concerned about the lack of government action to tackle the climate crisis to play their part by “not rinsing plates before putting them in the dishwasher, and freezing leftover bread”. She was widely ridiculed for these comments but was forced to resign over comments she made a year earlier about parties in Downing Street during Covid lockdown.
Screenshot of recent post and replies.
North Korean admiral in full uniform. White uniform with lots of medals, gold belt, and other decoration.
Quote from the final paragraph of the article linked in the following post. But flights are often cheaper than trains, even over short distances – flying is in effect subsidised, through the tax system. To encourage people on to trains instead of domestic flights, the government would need to make rail journeys cheaper or flights more expensive. The former would require investment, and the latter would annoy some middle-class voters. Therefore neither seems likely.
At What Temperature Does An AC Stop Working? Residential air conditioners are designed to perform optimally up to an outside temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit. When the mercury rises past that 95-degree mark, your AC’s performance and efficiency will start to decline. While most AC units can still function in higher heat, they begin to struggle, with a maximum operational temperature usually around 120 degrees. Beyond this, the unit’s ability to cool effectively diminishes, and it may even stop working altogether.
The communicators of the neoliberal agenda do not care about the fundamental values or reality they are commenting. They don’t care about the specific topic of discussion. At all. They care about the strategic outcome of creating the discussion in the first place. This point is particularly hard for leftists and scientists to understand, since they do care about fundamental values and reality. The strategic goal of neoliberal communicators is always twofold: to create distrust in democratic, publicly-oriented or funded processes, and to create confusion sufficient to disorient and disable democratic decision-making. Screenshot from “What we are up against” by Professor Julia Steinberger
Scene from the film, Return of the Jedi showing Darth Vader’s shuttle craft landing on the Death Star with its wings folded up.
Close up, head-on view of a Red Admiral butterfly sitting on a stone with its wings folded up.
Extract from the article. “The communicators of the neoliberal agenda do not care about the fundamental values or reality they are commenting. They don’t care about the specific topic of discussion. At all. They care about the strategic outcome of creating the discussion in the first place. This point is particularly hard for leftists and scientists to understand, since they do care about fundamental values and reality. The strategic goal of neoliberal communicators is always twofold: to create distrust in democratic, publicly-oriented or funded processes, and to create confusion sufficient to disorient and disable democratic decision-making.”
The image is a screenshot of the Green Party’s Zack Polanski’s single word post “Snowflake” above a headline from the Telegraph. It quotes Richard Tice of the far-right Reform party claiming that Glastonbury festival would not be a safe place for him to debate with Zack.
Extract from the article. “The communicators of the neoliberal agenda do not care about the fundamental values or reality they are commenting. They don’t care about the specific topic of discussion. At all. They care about the strategic outcome of creating the discussion in the first place. This point is particularly hard for leftists and scientists to understand, since they do care about fundamental values and reality. The strategic goal of neoliberal communicators is always twofold: to create distrust in democratic, publicly-oriented or funded processes, and to create confusion sufficient to disorient and disable democratic decision-making.”
Screenshot of the timeline showing a post from Prof Christine Pagel of her swim in a perfectly clean, clear beautiful wild river sandwiched between two versions of a Guardian story detailing the appalling state of rivers in the UK - “a line of fetid pools”
Black and yellow hoverfly on a pink honeysuckle flower.
Grey wagtail sitting on a power cable with a beak full of food for its young. The Grey Wagtail is more colourful than its name suggests, with slate grey upper parts and distinctive lemon yellow under-tail. Its tail is noticeably longer than those of Pied and Yellow Wagtails.
Swifts catching insects and feeding their young in a nest built under the eaves of this roof. Swifts are plain sooty brown, with a white throat, but in flight against the sky they appear black. They have curved wings and a forked tail.
House Martins chasing insects to feed their young in nests built of mud high up under this roof. They are still relatively widespread but declining and are on the red list of conservation concern. The House Martin is a small bird with glossy blue-black upper parts and pure white under parts. It has a distinctive white rump with a forked tail
A male Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly. Image shows a large damselfly with metallic blue body and dark wings sitting on a leaf in my garden in north Wales.
Screenshot from 2021 tweet by Prof Priyamvada Gopal. “One doesn’t speak truth to power. Power doesn’t give a damn. One speaks truth about power.”
A small moth with a brown and cream abdomen and wings, with distinctive “spikes” on its legs.
A bright red damselfly with two pairs of wings, black legs, and a long body with three broad, dark stripes towards the end. It is sitting on a stone in bright sunshine.
Starmer rejects call for UK to stop supply of F-35 jet parts used by Israel, saying ban would impact other UK allies Kirsty Blackman (SNP) asks why the government is still selling Israel parts of F-35 jets, which are being used to drop bombs on starving people. Starmer says Blackman does not understand how the process works. She “doesn’t know the detail at all”, he says He says the UK does not give the parts directly to Israel. It contributes into a “pot” where parts for the jet go. If we were to stop that, they couldn’t be used by other countries in the other conflicts, including those in which we are involved … They’re not sold directly. They go into a pot. If we were to stop that, they wouldn’t then be available to others around the world who desperately need them in the conflicts they’re engaged in, and that’s why we won’t do it.
Image shows the delta as it is now before Jared Kushner builds 6,000 hotel rooms and villas and destroys everything.
Young oak tree showing the effects of weeks of no or very limited rainfall. Dead leaves among the new growth.
The effect of weeks with no rainfall on a young oak tree. The image shows about 10-15% of the new leaves have died. There is no rain forecast for at least another week, and the soil is bone dry. The tree is on the edge of a National Park in north Wales.
Headline and sub-heading from Guardian newspaper. “UK care homes face ban on overseas recruitment under migration plans Yvette Cooper to announce proposals to reduce net migration in response to growing pressure from Reform UK”
Still from the French film Jean de Florette showing the title character standing in his parched land staring at the sky, desperately praying for rain from a distant storm while his children stand behind him.
Screenshot from linked article. “This is a crucial point to understand: fossil fuel companies are not energy companies. They are fossil fuel companies. They are tied, by their history, capabilities and culture, to fossil fuels. Their employees, going way back, are petroleum geoengineers, petroleum economists and traders. They grew up in households and programs where fossil fuels were the name of the game, and their entire social capital and sense of self, sense of purpose in their work, comes from the heritage of supplying fossil fuels to the world. Essentially, going back to one of Marx’s core insights on capitalism, corporations are not separate from their commodities. Fossil fuel companies are not “energy” companies. They are terminally enmeshed with fossil fuels, through physical assets, technical know-how, and employee culture. Cutting those ties requires far, far, far more than knowledge and conviction of climate science.”
Screenshot from the linked article. “The communicators of the neoliberal agenda do not care about the fundamental values or reality they are commenting.”