Tag: trump

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (July 2026)

Social playing cards with some on fire
Generated by Gemini modified by Ian

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed reading the rule of the super rich on hearing about gig working nurses and is W social European and open or not??

To quote Buckminster Fuller “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.“

You are seeing aspects of this with a google engineer charged for inside trading on polymarket, cheap balcony solar equipment flooding the market and the open rights groups notes to our new prime mister in the UK.

Intimacy at risk

Ian thinks: This is such a good conversation about the state of looks-maxing, the difficulty of dating apps, and ultimately intimacy Its the reason why I started the podcast making the familiar strange.

You also fill every moment with media?

Ian thinks: I am so guilty of filling every moment with media, mainly podcasts, I am so use to my text to speech to read a lot of the stories in this internet notes. But this piece points the problems and reminds me of societies which don’t have lots of advertising everywhere.

Enshittification as an opportunity for better?

Ian thinks: Cory Doctorow and many others have mentioned the opportunities which have arisen due to the regime Trump and the silicon valley billionaires have pushed us into. One opportunity is highlighted here, with Meta providing a binary choice to existing users. There is always a third way, and that is to leave for something far better.

Imprison the government?

Ian thinks: During the PublicSpaces conference, myself and Laurens talked about the challenges to democracy. In his latest newsletter, he clearly links the unlawful riots in Northern Ireland and the external influences. I can only add, the UK police’s statement feels like they don’t fully grasp the impact of social media controlled by disruptive trillionares.

Standing for democracy and the rule of law ?

Ian thinks: This interview with Palantir UK head is unreal. Its one thing for Thiel and Karp to go off the very deep end but its quite something trying to defend them as the UK head. This is must watch to truely understand how shadowy this company represents its self, by not really answering straight forward questions.

World has moved on, have you?

Ian thinks: Cory’s connection with the Dark tower and the enshittified state we are in (and its getting worst every day) is a good connection. Cory’s addressing of nostalgia is also perfect, as this is not that. There is a lot in the post but the main point, about this being a political problem is apt. I recommend the open rights group in the UK, which I’m an advisor for.

We need to talk about AI successionism

Ian thinks: In my research into AI, I have seen points towards people who believe human kind is purely here to foster super AI in to existence. Booster, doomer or somewhere else, this is a something we should all be very aware of. The religion of AI is very real.

Watch the AI doc? TL:DR?

Ian thinks: Quote a lot of the time, people talk to me about AI and I always ask them what aspect of AI are they focusing on. Secondary I suggest watching the AI Doc, as I have done here. Now if most can’t watch because its not freely available. Now there is a TL:DR summary all can watch freely.

AI is here so what next?

Ian thinks: There is a lot of conversations about AI, but this mature conversation about what to do with AI is something we need a lot more of. Although I don’t agree with everything which is said, there is a lot of questions we should all be asking instead of the race to AI general intelligence.

Telling us to get off X? Why don’t YOU get off X?

Ian thinks: This is great someone in the UK government actually says this out loud. But it doesn’t go far enough. Recently the University of Sheffield Student Union took a strong stance calling out much of the US big tech for their complicity; and them selves up on the Fediverse. If only democratic governments would do the same?

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Tech needs more masculine energy? Really?!

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says companies need more 'masculine energy ...

This is such nonsense, more masculine energy? A sector which has struggled to be more inclusive and full of sexism? I put it to Mark and all the others with this warped sense of what it means to be a man; you haven’t got a clue.

Men dominate most high-paying and high-status fields. A large majority of high-level corporate executives, from vice presidents and senior vice presidents to C.E.O.s and C.F.O.s, are men. In the world of Silicon Valley — that is to say, Zuckerberg’s world — women remain a minority. About 25 percent of tech jobs are held by women, and according to a 2021 report, a scant 4.7 percent of companies in the Silicon Valley 150 have a woman as chief executive, compared with the roughly 6 percent of companies in the S&P 500 that can say the same.

– Jamelle Bouie

Its pretty disgusting to see the tech elite dripping over the change in American administration. They are demonstrating what I class as (although I do take the point of Richard Reeves) Toxic masculinity. Where is their backbone, where is their values? Pandering to this new administration because you are lining your already endless pockets of money says much more about these billionaires than anything. If this is masculine energy, then I’m not interested. I call total bollox on the whole thing!

When trump signed the executive order to leave the Paris agreement (complete with a drill baby drill comment) and join Iran, Yeman and Libya (you got to look at who you are joining!) I almost threw up in my mouth.

Just some of the damage Trump brought to America

I found this video incredible to watch the damage one person can do to democracy. Remember just don’t read the comments!

Its great to see Joe Biden straight to work the next day over ruling trumps previous decisions including leaving the World health organisation (in the middle of a pandemic!) and leaving the Paris accord.

Bill Maher on leaving a cult

I was very happy to hear Biden and Harris’s speeches trying to unite right and left in America. Likewise I was impressed with Bill Maher’s restraints on hearing the democrats win, but they are both right. Civil war is the worst outcome for all. There was a lot worries this was inevitable (it might still be)

Its time to heal the nation and you can’t do that by shout down people. Bill’s comparison of leaving a cult is actually apt. Reminds me a long time ago when I tried to talk around a Scientologist called huggs. I tried to get her to think for herself not simply recite what shes been told to think. Of course it was just a late evening in London but with care, understanding and patience it really can help. All the things needed right now.

The pandemic is just the start

I have been looking at the brighter side of things but also been pragmatically thinking about the future.

Its been a while since I heard from Noam Chomsky and this speech with additional footage is powerful I have been thinking a lot about the near future beyond this pandemic.

First of all, I do think we are talking about a long run on covid19, I suspect it will be Q3-4 when the vaccines actually become available to everyday people (people who are not at high risk, on the front line or anything like that). Pinning our hopes on things going back to the old normal is not going to happen. Heck even my mum the other day said this to me on our last family call! We already prepared ourselves to not spend the festive season together.

The festival season also brings to the UK, the harsh ramifications of Brexit. Something a lot people have blocked out of their mind as they focus on Covid19. Don’t even get me started about the this as its deeply upsetting and really encourages me to just leave this country.

However as Noam talks about in his speech, the elephants in the room (I would say blackswans but they are not because we are very aware of these, or at least we should be!).

  1. Global nuclear war
  2. Environmental collapse

Its clear if Trump wins another term as president of America, the countdown to both global nuclear war and environmental collapse will be so much closer than we can imagine. The election is a concern for many reasons but nuclear war and environmental collapse is something we should all be aware and thinking about; and I don’t mean disappearing into our escape pods.

We already passed the point of no environmental change but we are actively increasing accelerating things including future pandemics. Imagine pandemics are simply a side-effect of our environmental impact. That I feel gives it the real scope of the challenge in front of us.

This can all be a harsh reality kick in the teeth. But honestly see it as a kick up the ass for us all. Together we can do it but we all have to acknowledge the reality and look beyond the current pandemic.

Could it be that Trump has dyslexia?

I have been thinking about this quite a lot over the last few years. I choose to say little simply because of the negativity I will get. However I want to make one thing clear… Regardless of Trump’s politics, lies, sexism and racism (for this post) I have been considering my own experience of dyslexia and also helping others with dyslexia.

I’m pretty sure Trump has dyslexia…?

There is a growing number of incidents which are very common mistakes for dyslexics. The latest one being misreading from a tele-prompter. I recently had to read something out from a screen to be recorded – It was Hell! I almost just gave up at 2am but with some audio editing handed something in. Reading from a tele-prompter  would be a real problem and its a common problem for some people with dyslexia.

Theres a real question about how much he reads (lots of dyslexics read a lot but its not usually for pleasure in my case) and its interesting to see how he acts under pressure to read out-loud. As person with dyslexic I recognise its the kind of thing I do a lot and its a common trait. My brain tends to change the words I see when they come out my mouth.

Its also clear a lot of people with dyslexia are charming for example Steve Jobs, Keira Knightley, Richard Branson, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Cruise, etc. This doesn’t excuse the way people are treating him as a person with dyslexia. Its highly likely he does and his daughter even says it.

GO: Is Trump illiterate?

NC: He is severely dyslexic, and has been his entire life. Ivanka would joke about it off camera.

Although its not directly from the source, so its still not confirmed

If he does have dyslexia or any other learning disability. Its says something positive that a person with dyslexia could be the president of America. But like Jobs there is a dark side which masks the hidden disability which he might not want to admit to himself, and certainly not anyone else? The best thing to do is to be honest but its not going to happen.

So till that moment, expect much more…

Part of the reason I don’t watch much TV news

While major news networks have struggled to figure out the right way to cover the Trump administration, political satirists like Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers have demonstrated why comedy can be such a powerful antidote to bullshit.

I was thinking the other day, I don’t really watch much TV news. Ok I don’t watch any live TV anyway but News would be very low in that tiny percentage.

However I do watch a lot of Comedy news from last week tonight, the daily show, realtime with bill maher, etc. That backed with reading news from credible news sites makes up most of my news. News sources which take a longer view on things, rather than whats happening right now.

Boris Brexit Bus
I will never forget the Boris Brexit Bus

The nonsense from our politicians is alarming and theres only a certain amount I can personally take. The only way to cope is to laugh at how stupid the whole system is and not breath in too much of it.

I guess because of this I sleep pretty well at night (especially with my new hours) I certainly don’t do the  doom scroll thing, worrying about what I saw on the news.

Climate disaster is just around the corner

I have nothing but respect for the people who are taking part in the Extinction Rebellion, its about time! I had hoped Al Gore’s inconvenient truth would be the start of this? But it wasn’t. You can blame the media, trump, etc but the fact is we are running out of time.

Extinction Rebellion - Rebel for life
Its unbelievable and downright scary to hear mainly older peoples views on “kids” truanting from school and blocking London. I understand the worry about legal and illegal protest, however each and everyone of them understand how much of a knife edge humanity is on.

I was listening to Episode 127 of TeamHuman “All Hands On Deck” Extinction Rebellion with Gail Bradbrook and Clare Farrell. Although I thought they were interesting its their pulling people together which is most important. Always reminded of Eric Nehrlich’s find the others post.

I found this cartoon quite powerful by the way.

 

The city mouse and the county mouse from Bill Maher

Bill Mahar’s piece about City, Country and Trump is spot on (it doesn’t seem to be geo-blocked in the UK for me). Funny, insightful and sadly true. You can apply a similar idea to the Brexit vote.

if you want to understand why America is so divided don’t talk about Republicans and Democrats or red states and blue states read the story the city mouse and the country mouse currently being sold under the new titled what happened but the original was about two mice who learn that you’re either one of the other city or country and the same really could be said for America when you fly over it you don’t see red states and blue states you see vast stretches of land where there’s nothing and then every once in a while a city.
Its also interesting to contrast this with City Boy and Country girl discussion had for the listening project.

Intersectional Feminism…

Don't forget white women voted for Trump

I can’t really believe I missed this term and thoughts around this photo.

Washington Post

New York Tines

I first heard about the term when listening to the podcast what mom never told you.

There is a great interview with the woman in the picture

TR: Why did you decide to create the sign “White Women Voted for Trump”?

AP: We need to be really honest about why we’re here. There was a sense for me of being at the march and in community with folks that were wanting to resist this horrifying reality, but also not wanting folks to get complacent.

TR: How did people respond to you and your sign?

AP: Most were saying, “Not this white woman,” or “No one I know!” I’d say, “[Fifty-three percent] of white women voted for Trump. That means someone you know, someone who is in close community with you, voted for Trump. You need to organize your people.” And some people said, “Oh, I’m so ashamed.” Don’t be ashamed; organize your people.

That’s why the photo was such a great moment to capture, because it tells the story of white women in this moment wanting to just show up in a very superficial way and not wanting to do the hard work of making change, of challenging their own privilege. You’re here protesting, but don’t forget: The folks that you live with every single day—and probably some of the women that decided to come to the march—voted for Trump, made the decision to vote against self-interests to maintain their white supremacist way of life.

Its something I’ve thought a lot about, especially when thinking about diversity and inclusion. Its one of the things which has bugged me when thinking about the numerous women in tech events. Not taking anything away from them but if all the women are white, middle class and went to the same university – then we got a long way to go.

Maybe it also starts to explain why a lot of the women (of colour if thats what you prefer) I talk to are unsure about the term feminist?

Rather than weight in to this topic with limited insight, I thought I’d share some things I saw and heard.

Want to Learn More about Intersectional Feminism? Watch Shows created by Black Women

Why feminism can’t ignore race

100 Women 2016: Is feminism just for white women?

A split in sisterhood