peak4

I find the issue far greater with the likes of Twitter and Facebook. I do use other search engines and browsers as well, often Pale Moon as a browser Their specific algorithms feed you more of what you interreact with most, leading folk down deeper and deeper rabbit holes. There's lots of formal research into this, and also more accessible articles such as this https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/news-blogs/what-are-algorithms-how-to-prevent-echo-chambers/ Teachers now have access to specific training to combat the Andrew Tate effect and his influence on young minds. The likes of Cambridge Analytica have a lot to answer for as well; remember the Do So campaign Essentially a country with almost equally matched ethnicities, where the young were encouraged not to vote as a protest. The campaign organisers knew that the black Jamaicans were more likely to follow the big yellow posters etc, than those of Indian extraction, who were more likely to follow their parents advice. In a close election, it was deemed to be enough to tip the election in one direction. It's explored in a bit more depth in 1.1. of this article (pdf); again there's plenty of other sources.

I'm not sure it's necessarily helpful, but sadist, fascist, genocidal all seem to fit the bill Try reading these linked articles all the way through, distressing though they are, and then you can make up your own mind; I'm sure a cursory search could find many more examples I’m an American doctor who went to Gaza. What I saw wasn’t war — it was annihilation On one occasion, a handful of children, all about ages 5 to 8, were carried to the emergency room by their parents. All had single sniper shots to the head. These families were returning to their homes in Khan Yunis, about 2.5 miles away from the hospital, after Israeli tanks had withdrawn. But the snipers apparently stayed behind. None of these children survived. Palestinians accuse Israeli forces of executing 19 civilians in Gaza Footage, witness accounts shared with Al Jazeera reveal how Israeli soldiers carried out executions in Gaza last month. The Israeli soldiers stormed the building. “They banged on our door. My husband … told them we are all civilians. They took him to another apartment. I followed them, pleading with them to let him go because we are civilians,” she said. “They beat me and my daughters. They put us women in one place and threatened us with guns and knives. They made us strip. They searched us, insulting us using the most terrible words,” Salem added. The soldiers disregarded their pleas and proceeded to “execute” all the men they rounded up outside. “My husband was one of the 19 men killed in this building. They ordered them to bend down and executed them. They killed them all.” IDF SENT IN HANDCUFFED PRISONER TO EVACUATE HOSPITAL, THEN KILLED HIM WHEN HE LEFT It was not long after this that the young man in the white PPE arrived. The young man was Jamal Abu Al-Ola, according to El Helou. He had been at the hospital earlier, but the Israeli military had subsequently seized and detained him, and put his hands in what appears to be black, plastic zip-tie cuffs. “He said that he was subjected to beatings and humiliation and abuse by the soldiers,” El Helou recounted. Abu Al-Ola was killed shortly after walking out of the hospital. According to El Helou, he was shot by an Israeli soldier three times in his chest and abdomen while still inside the gates of the hospital. Al Serr, the Nasser Hospital doctor, confirmed the account of Abu Al-Ola being killed as he left the hospital. El Helou later got footage of Abu Al-Ola’s corpse in a body bag, still robed in his PPE.

Here you go; https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/en-gb/newsupdates/sheffield-connect

See if this screenshot reproduces OK

Assuming the 1200miles is correct, just exceeds LeJog @ 1189 miles I've moved over to Buxton now; a couple of our locals have just done something similar on a smaller scale; every road in town in one go at around 75 miles. All on a live GPS tracker. https://live.opentracking.co.uk/buxtonstreets23/

With all this snipping going on, it seems there might be a reason to employ Hitchens' Razor again; "what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence." Biden at the Three-Year Mark: The Most Active Immigration Presidency Yet Is Mired in Border Crisis Narrative There are other sources, but I've not seen any that mention 10 million The U.S. southern border has witnessed a record of at least 6.3 million migrant encounters at and between ports of entry since Biden took office in January 2021, according to data from the Office of Homeland Security Statistics, resulting in more than 2.4 million migrants allowed into the country. Most of these individuals are in active removal proceedings in immigration court, in which they can claim asylum as a defense against removal.

I accept that this is a slightly off-beat web site, and Craig Murray isn't everyone's cup of tea, but this link is quite useful as it does contain much traceable factual material Craig Murray – Julian Assange Trial: State Secrecy and Public Hearings Do bear in mind this is supposed to be a public hearing, and it looks like at least some of those promised internet access to it have found they can't view it. I understand the scheduled court has only 15 seats in the public gallery, and another 32 in a different room where a televised (or audio??) version is shown. "Remember, as that document says, this is a “public hearing”. You have to apply for permission to watch it and state WHY you want to watch it. Presumably “It is a public hearing. By law it has to be public” is not a sufficient reason. There is no guarantee at all that you will be given permission. You have to be in England or Wales to watch. Applications from Scotland and Northern Ireland will “not normally be granted”. Despite the fact it is the UK government which is extraditing Julian under a UK–USA extradition treaty, not an England and Wales–USA extradition treaty. Julian is an Australian citizen. But you are not “normally” permitted to watch in Australia. It is the United States government which is seeking to extradite Julian. But citizens of the United States will not “normally” be permitted to view online." From Twitter earlier, rather than producing a huge screenshot Craig Murray @ CraigMurrayOrg "I am heading to the High Court now at 06.15. I have a confession - this time a volunteer has been queuing for me. We still don't know if we will get in. As of last night Julian still did not know if he will be allowed to attend his own hearing or not. My application for online access was simply ignored." 6:19 AM · Feb 20, 2024

Worth a read, all the way through I think; these are a couple of excerpts Exclusive: Ken Loach calls out Sir Keir Starmer, what were his dealings in the Julian Assange case When you get a right-wing politician like David Davis saying Julian Assange is a political prisoner, everyone knows it, the Guardian knows it who took his stories then disowned him, the BBC knows it, Channel 4 news, every serious editor current affairs programme, of a national newspaper ‘knows this is the truth’ and yet they are silent the journalist are silent, the lawyers are silent.” As DPP, Sir Keir Starmer tempered his supposed love of liberty by fast-tracking the extradition of Julian Assange (a process now making its way through the courts). He flouted legal precedents by advising Swedish lawyers not to question Assange in Britain: a decision that prolonged the latter’s legal purgatory denied closure to his accusers in Sweden and sealed his fate before a US show trial. Leaked emails from August 2012 show that, when the Swedish legal team expressed hesitancy about keeping Assange’s case open, Sir Keir’s office replied: ‘Don’t you dare get cold feet’. Re. The Guardian; it was noticeable how some of their news reporting changed following the Edward Snowden exposé; I wonder what other conditions were quietly imposed upon them, and whether any relayed to WikiLeaks? https://theintercept.com/2015/08/26/way-gchq-obliterated-guardians-laptops-revealed-intended/ The day GCHQ came to call on the Guardian In this exclusive extract from his book on Edward Snowden, Luke Harding gives the inside take on what happened when British agents ordered the destruction of Guardian computers This one made it into print, though it may raise more questions than answers. When Nigel Farage met Julian Assange Why did Ukip’s ex-leader want to slip in unnoticed to meet the WikiLeaks chief at the Ecuadorian embassy?

As I mentioned above, it seems that it's not uncommon at that location, and the fire service clearly have a tried and tested procedure in place, both for there and other similar situations. https://www.essex-fire.gov.uk/site-search?keys=Buttsbury&type=incident&sort_by=search_api_relevance

Perhaps educate yourself; Prevalence of bullying There are a wealth of statistics in relation to bullying both in the UK and overseas and you will regularly see bullying reported in the media. Research from the Department for Education looking at pupils in year 10 found that: 1 in 4 young people with SEN (special educational needs) experienced violence (actual or threatened) Actual violence was more likely to always take place at school compared to other forms of bullying This page is about school bullying, https://www.supportline.org.uk/problems/bullying-at-school/ but there is more stuff in the menu on the right; particularly about cyber bullying, which is very relevant to this thread https://www.supportline.org.uk/problems/cyber-bulling/ Why is there an increase in Child Suicide and Self Harm? Ofsted, The Schools Minister and Education Department say ‘It is the responsibility of each individual Head of School to decide how to manage bullying in their school. It is up to the schools to decide how to govern and manage bullying. The National Bullying Helpline has this in writing. Allowing a Head of School to unilaterally manage the process is a recipe for disaster, particularly where a school is in self-preservation mode and wants to contain a problem in order to protect their reputation. Note that only state schools must have policies in place Schools and the law By law, all state (not private) schools must have a behaviour policy in place that includes measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils. This policy is decided by the school. All teachers, pupils and parents must be told what it is. List of suicides attributed to bullying

It strikes me that The Mail is milking the story; how they do love to try show H&S in a bad light. The Fire Brigade are well aware of this ford, and clearly get regular callouts there, so seem to have a well practiced procedure in place. Guess what, even The Mail knows that, as they recently reported a similar incident; https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12863683/Woman-rescued-Buttsbury-Wash-Essex-Ford-Fiesta.html https://www.essex-fire.gov.uk/incidents/woman-rescued-car-flooded-ford-2023-01-17-11-28 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-67642544 I often find it's worth trying to read behind the headlines to see the agenda of the https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-67642544 news media.

My concerns about calculators being used in schools too early, is that I think students should learn a "feeling" for the size of numbers before their introduction. Just plugging digits into a calculator leads one to immediately believe the results, even if there are misplaced decimal points for instance. I recall taking in a stores delivery for a colleague at work, including a particular item, which needed to be 4" of some tubing in two different colours. I've no idea what happened at the planning stage, but metric conversions were involved somewhere, so 4" became approx 100mm, which became 100m then 100 units, which became boxes etc. I ended up with two full pallets of tubing, costing many thousands of pounds each. rather than two 4 inch lengths; this occurred over several different jobs, so rather than a jiffy bag in the post, a lorry arrived at the stores.

Folk probably said the same when slide rules were allowed in lieu of log tables; I'm of the era when calculators were first introduced, but you still had to show all workings of how you achieved the answer. Reverse Polish Notation did present some initial difficulties as I recall. Times and technology move on, I believe sat navs are now part of the driving test, but measures should be proportionate. The mobiles in schools stuff is also referenced by other educational bodies, such as The UN, rather than just UK politicians' posturing. A new UN report raised concerns on Wednesday about the excessive use of smartphones in schools worldwide. According to the UN's education, science and culture agency UNESCO, the over-use of mobile phones impacts learning.

The same story seems to be widely syndicated, but the official paper is here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65cf5f2a4239310011b7b916/Mobile_phones_in_schools_guidance.pdf

Sunak seemed full of praise too, along with various other political leaders, but I'm not sure if The Mail has mentioned that. Rishi Sunak @RishiSunak This is terrible news. As the fiercest advocate for Russian democracy, Alexei Navalny demonstrated incredible courage throughout his life. My thoughts are with his wife and the people of Russia, for whom this is a huge tragedy. Many folk seem to show slightly dodgy judgement regarding whether your enemy's enemy is your friend. Revealed: UK government helped sanctioned Putin ally sue British journalist UK Treasury, then under Rishi Sunak’s control, let Yevgeny Prigozhin circumvent sanctions to target Eliot Higgins Sanctions introduced in the UK and Europe in 2020 were supposed to prevent anyone from doing business with Prigozhin. He had also been sanctioned in the US in 2018. But a vast cache of hacked emails shows that, under the leadership of Rishi Sunak, the UK Treasury issued special licences in 2021 to let the oligarch override sanctions and launch an aggressive legal campaign against a journalist in the London courts. Navalny's history was no secret Has Alexey Navalny moved on from his nationalist past? The Kremlin’s greatest critic stopped attending far-right rallies many years ago, but he still supports anti-migrant measures. Alexey Navalny became the undisputed leader of anti-Kremlin political forces and anyone opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, largely because of his muckraking videos on corruption in the Kremlin halls of power. Muslim ‘cockroaches’ In a 2007 pro-gun rights video, Navalny presents himself as a “certified nationalist” who wants to exterminate “flies and cockroaches” – while bearded Muslim men appear in cutaways. He whips out a gun and shoots an actor wearing a keffiyeh who tried to “attack” him. The 42-second video was released by the Russian National Liberation Movement, a nationalist group Navalny had just co-founded with Zakhar Prilepin, a renowned novelist who later fought for pro-Russian separatists in southeastern Ukraine and joined a pro-Kremlin socialist party earlier this year. I suspect nothing is as simple as some would wish us to believe; a longish article from New Yorker makes interesting reading ( I hope the link works as I was struggling to get past the paywall) The Evolution of Alexey Navalny’s Nationalism According to Volkov, Navalny now regrets making the 2007 video in which he advocated for deporting Central Asian migrants, but he has not deleted it from YouTube “because it’s a historical fact.” Navalny stands by his support for gun ownership, an issue on which he and Volkov disagree. On immigration, Navalny has refined and reframed his position: when he advocates for a visa regime with Central Asian countries now, he emphasizes the need to protect the rights of migrant laborers. “Russia definitely needs immigrants,” Volkov said, “but ones who receive work permits and pay taxes.”

I think it's all pretty well explained in this Grauniad article from several years ago Ricky Gervais, please stop using the word 'mong' The comedian is back on Twitter but some of his language is not welcome Anyone who is disabled or who loves someone with a disability knows what that word means because they will have heard it used about them abusively at some stage. Along with "retard" and "spaz", it's a prominent verbal feature of the bullies' toolkit. I'm 45 and I know that. Ricky Gervais is 50, so he will definitely know that – besides, he tackles the issue in an episode of Extras in which a boy with Down's syndrome is referred to as a "mongoloid". Gervais's younger fans may justifiably claim ignorance about the word, but my 17-year-old daughter knows what it means because it was used about her sister, and she herself was called retarded. The reason that younger people may not have heard it is because of the excellent work done by the Down's Syndrome Association, among others, which has ensured that the word has been pretty much dropped from use. Whilst the article dates from about 12 years ago, I'm guessing that most folk on this thread are old enough to appreciate the derivation, and why it's generally referred to as offensive. Youngsters may not know, but our more mature members certainly should.

There's quite a bit about the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust ones at Willington Wetlands on this website; includes quite a few embedded videos https://www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/about/projects/all-about-beavers

Do bear in mind, this is a regime which deliberately targets journalists, and their families including young children. Al Jazeera Journalist Whose Family Was Killed in Airstrike Loses Another Son Israel’s War on Journalists By casting reporters as Hamas accomplices, Israel seeks to discredit critical coverage—and to justify unprecedented violence against Palestinian journalists. Even when they are in a different country Reuters, Al Jazeera journalists ‘targeted’ in Lebanon strike: Press group Lebanon: Israeli Strike Kills Reporter's 4 Relatives BEIRUT, LEBANON — Four relatives of a journalist were killed Sunday in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, the official Lebanese news agency said, adding that the journalist was also wounded. The numbers are rising; this is last year Israeli military accused of targeting journalists and their families in Gaza Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 68 journalists and media workers killed since 7 October

Go back and have a look at post 52/3 of this thread. It was a brief summary of a longer post I had deleted, responding to where similar comments were made.

According to his son, there shouldn't be any hostages; Unfortunately I can't provide a direct link, as I don't have a Telegram account Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israel's PM, complains on his Telegram channel that Israel's military did not execute the Hannibal Directive fully on October 7. "There is a procedure called the Hannibal Directive... The planes that were supposed to be in the air on the Gaza border, were supposed to destroy everything that moves there, crush everything, and thus we would not have 256 prisoners. The fact that did not bomb means that there is a big problem with the airforce," he wrote. For those unfamiliar with the term, there's an explanation here, along with a link to a longer documentary ( which I've not watched myself.) See also WIKI Israeli Colonel discusses October 7 operation and the Hannibal Directive In an exclusive interview with Haaretz, Colonel Nof Erez, an Israeli reserve pilot, offers insight into the Israeli army's response to the events of October 7, describing it as a ‘mass Hannibal’. The Hannibal Directive, a highly controversial former protocol within the Israeli army, is designed to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers, even at the cost of harming or killing them if they are at risk of being taken hostage.

Always worth following this politician, as she's quite open about her (and the settlers) plans

War on Gaza: Here's what Israeli officials say should happen to the Palestinian enclave Several Israeli ministers spoke at a conference promoting resettling Gaza while attendees chanted 'death to Arabs' Don’t give them food’ Daniella Weiss, the far-right former mayor of the settlement Kedumim in the occupied West Bank, also called for Palestinians to be starved in order to force them into leaving Gaza. “The Arabs will move… we don’t give them food, we don’t give the Arabs anything, they will have to leave. The world will accept them,” she told a reporter at the conference. Ben Gvir says ‘we will initiate conflict’ During the conference, Ben Gvir called for a dual approach when it comes to Gaza, which includes promoting the departure of the current inhabitants, as well as simultaneously facilitating and encouraging the influx of Israeli settlers into the area. “We will initiate conflict to prevent further uncertainty and aimlessness,” he said.

One more from my bookmarks for you; This is political expediency’: how the Tories turned on 15-minute cities Imagine a city in which you could walk or cycle to almost anywhere you needed to go in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee. Shops, medical facilities and artistic sites would be spread throughout neighbourhoods. Remote and home working would be embraced. Sound idyllic? Not if you’re Rishi Sunak. The prime minister used an interview before this week’s party conference to “hit out” at the 15-minute city concept, saying there was a “relentless attack” on motorists who “depend on their cars to get to work, take their kids to school, do their shopping, see the doctor” – ignoring that this dependence is exactly what the model aims to reduce.

It's a few years since I left Sheffield; Has someone been putting something strange in the water over there? (apart from sewage of course 😉 ) I can't imagine the following articles will influence those who've disappeared down the rabbit hole; maybe others will read them, and begin to understand where this bilge came from. Persevere, they are worth a read, and provide a history of the concept, as well as why, and how, it's become hijacked. Decent article here The 15-Minute City Freakout Is a Case Study in Conspiracy Paranoia Far-right protesters in the UK claim that Oxford’s traffic-control plan is a part of a global authoritarian plot. What the heck is going on? And another by Jasper Jackson; even some Tories are playing to the gullible in a search for votes What is the 15-minute cities conspiracy theory? At the Conservative Party Conference 2023, the transport secretary Mark Harper began his list of announcements with a focus on a concept called “15-minute cities”. “First of all I am calling time on the misuse of so-called 15 minute cities,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with making sure people can walk or cycle to the shops or school. That’s traditional town planning. “But what is different, what is sinister, and what we shouldn’t tolerate is the idea that local councils can decide how often you go to the shops and that they ration who uses the roads and when, and they police it all with CCTV.” In those few sentences, Harper managed to both give a fair definition of what 15-minute cities actually are, and then repeat a conspiracy theory that has no basis in fact, but has become a key strand of conspiracist thinking in the UK and beyond. And lastly one by Otto English Manufacturing Discontent: The 15-Minute City Conspiracy Otto English takes a deep dive into the chilling world of a big new theory that has caught the eye of libertarian influencers, extremists and members of the public alike

This particular one, an Olympus Stylus 1, was a lucky find on eBay, I think from a deceased estate. I already had an unconverted Stylus 1s so am familiar with the camera. Yes converted to B&W afterwards in DxO Optics Photolab7, from raw. Any other software would do. This is fixed @720nm, but there are other options; essentially the IR/UV bandpass filter in front of the sensor is removed and replaced with something else, ranging from plain glass for a full spectrum conversion , through to 840nm for a full IR effect. There's lots of info on the web, but This Site is a particularly good introduction; it uses its own names for the filters offered, but expand each one and it gives the wavelengths If you don't fancy converting yourself, I bought an Olympus E-M1 Mk1 mirrorless body from a chap on ebay in Inverness, who sells pre-converted bodies, or will do yours. Two user names, but nothing listed at the moment fra251252 & fra3434, there's several others, but I've no experience of them. That one I opted for 590nm, but I sometimes then add a 720nm clip in filter in front of it Faststone Image Viewer now has an option for basic colour swapping, as discussed on the video on the LifePixel site