#sustainable living uk

[dreamings-free]

so on Monday..

NME 29/4/24 The owners of Manchester’s Co-Op Live are planning to build “the greatest arena in the world” in London.

US entrepreneur Tim Leiweke, the CEO of sports and live entertainment development company Oak View Group – who is behind the Co-Op Live – has outlined plans for a new music venue in the capital. -> full article on nme.com

lol good point

then Wednesday, two days later..

NME 1/5/24 Manchester’s new arena Co-Op Live was forced to cancel a performance by rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie last minute due to a “venue-related technical issue”.

The venue announced just 10 minutes after doors had opened that the show could no longer go ahead due to technical problems. “We kindly ask fans to leave the area. Ticket holders will receive further information in due course,” they said.

-> full article on nme.com

later that same day..

NME 1/5/24 The gigs were postponed following a technical issue that caused A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie's show tonight to be pulled just 10 minutes after doors

[excerpt] A spokesperson for the venue told Manchester Evening News that the technical issue was caused by part of an air conditioning unit falling from the gantry inside the venue during soundcheck. Nobody was injured.

-> full article on nme.com

well, at least there's this new development.. (to make themselves look better :)

NME 1/5/24 The venue initially declined the levy, which would go towards supporting and developing the UK's grassroots venues.

Manchester’s Co-Op Live has agreed to meet with the Music Venue Trust to discuss a £1 ticket levy.

According to the BBC, Mark Davyd (CEO of the Music Venue Trust) said he was to meet with the Co-Op Live once the venue was up and running. The meeting comes amongst the furore with Co-Op Live’s executive director Gary Roden, who suggested some grassroots venues were “poorly run” whilst discussing the case for a £1 ticket levy to preserve them.

-> full article on nme.com

tbc I feel...

[shewalicious]

"SlimPulse Weight Loss: A Comprehensive Guide to Sustainable Fat Burning and Gut Health"

SlimPulse Weight Loss is not just another supplement but a holistic approach to sustainable weight management and enhanced well-being. Unlike extreme diets or rigorous exercise plans, SlimPulse offers a balanced combination of natural ingredients designed to support fat metabolism, curb appetite, and boost energy. By addressing various factors related to weight gain, SlimPulse enables you to take charge of your health and achieve enduring results.

What is SlimPulse?

SlimPulse is a fat-burning supplement that aims to increase the number of beneficial bacteria in the gut, which can help suppress hunger, reduce cravings, enhance metabolism, and prevent fat accumulation.

The gut microbiome, consisting of millions of bacteria in the digestive tract, plays a crucial role in digestive health, immune function, and even mental well-being. A well-balanced gut microbiome also aids in detoxification and nutrient absorption. Research from institutions like Harvard has shown that improving gut bacteria can aid in weight loss, offering renewed hope for those struggling with persistent fat.

SlimPulse's creators claim that their supplement, designed with advanced phytosome technology and scientific precision, addresses gut health imbalances. Manufactured in an FDA and GMP-certified facility in the USA, the product is made under strict quality control conditions.

Ingredients in SlimPulse:

Silymarin: Found in milk thistle seeds, silymarin has long been used for liver health due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and liver-protective effects.

Chlorogenic Acid: A polyphenol found in coffee beans, fruits, and vegetables, chlorogenic acid is known for its potential health benefits and therapeutic properties.

Camellia Sinensis: The leaves of this plant are used to make various types of tea, including green, black, oolong, and white tea. It originates from East Asia and is known for its diverse health benefits.

Pricing for SlimPulse:

SlimPulse is currently available at discounted rates on its official website, with three purchasing options:

1 Bottle (1-month supply) for $69

3 Bottles (3-month supply) for $59 per bottle

6 Bottles (6-month supply) for $49 per bottle

A 180-day money-back guarantee is offered, allowing customers to seek a refund by contacting customer service via email or phone, which reinforces the product's credibility and customer trust.

Order now:

Conclusion:

SlimPulse Weight Loss presents a compelling option for those aiming to reach their weight loss goals and enhance their overall health. With its scientifically-backed blend of natural ingredients and proven effectiveness, SlimPulse offers a safe and sustainable approach to weight management. Whether you're aiming to lose a few pounds or undergo a significant health transformation, SlimPulse Weight Loss can be your ally in achieving long-term success. Discover the benefits of SlimPulse Weight Loss today and start your journey to a healthier, more vibrant you.

[familythings]

Time Banks: Building Communities Through Time Exchanged

Have you ever heard about the Time Bank concept? It was new to me and it is so interesting that I thought to share it with you dear friends. Time banks are an innovative approach to exchanging services within a community. They allow people to share their time, skills, and talents with others without using money. Instead of cash, time banks use time as currency. For every hour you spend helping…

[marketxmax]

A Flourishing Future From Your Own Backyard: A Review of "The Self-Sufficient Backyard" (Printed Book)

I recently took a deep dive into self-sufficiency with "The Self-Sufficient Backyard" by Ron and Johanna Melchiore, and emerged brimming with inspiration. This printed book is a treasure trove of practical knowledge, presented in a way that's both approachable and engaging. Whether you're a seasoned homesteader or a curious newcomer like myself, this book offers valuable tools and strategies for creating a more sustainable and independent lifestyle, right in your own backyard.

Growing Abundance:

The book dives right into the heart of self-sufficiency – food production. Melchiores share their 40 years of experience in cultivating a thriving backyard garden. Their meticulous approach covers everything from plot planning and soil health to choosing the right crops and companion planting. I was particularly impressed by their breakdown of efficient gardening techniques that maximize yields in even limited spaces.

Beyond the Garden Gate:

"The Self-Sufficient Backyard" goes far beyond vegetable patches. The Melchiores explore raising chickens for fresh eggs and discuss strategies for small-scale animal husbandry. They even delve into aspects like rainwater harvesting and alternative energy sources, empowering readers to reduce their reliance on external systems. This holistic approach to self-sufficiency resonated with me, as it acknowledges the interconnectedness of various aspects in creating a more sustainable living environment.

A Sustainable Future, One Step at a Time:

The beauty of this book lies in its practicality. The Melchiores don't advocate for an all-or-nothing approach. Instead, they break down self-sufficiency into achievable steps. They offer guidance on starting small and gradually expanding your skills and projects. This incremental approach makes the concept feel attainable, even for someone with limited experience.

Knowledge is Power:

What truly elevates "The Self-Sufficient Backyard" is its emphasis on knowledge. The Melchiores pack the book with valuable resources, including plant lists, troubleshooting tips, and even recipes for utilizing your homegrown produce. They also provide guidance on where to find further information and connect with the wider homesteading community. This commitment to empowering readers with knowledge ensures the book's long-term value.

A Rewarding Investment:

"The Self-Sufficient Backyard" (printed book) is an investment in your future. It's a comprehensive guide that empowers you to cultivate a more self-sufficient and sustainable lifestyle. The Melchiores' passion for self-sufficiency is contagious, and their clear, concise writing style makes the book a pleasure to read. If you're looking to take control of your food production, reduce your environmental impact, and create a more resilient future, this book is an invaluable resource.

Shop Now 👈

[zuzucodes]

Step by Step Guide: Applying for UK Government Heat Pump Grants

Looking to make your home more energy-efficient and reduce your carbon footprint? The UK government offers generous heat pump grants, and we've got you covered with a comprehensive step-by-step guide to applying!

[neverendingford]

.

[super-ultra-mega-deluxe]

The actual consideration of what fascism is is rather something of general import. A number of folks here have deferred to Umberto Eco's Ur-Fascism, and while I wouldn't discourage it, it is a text from the perspective of semiotics; that is to say, from the perspective of what signifies fascism, not what it is per se. Hence also why Eco emphasizes that none of the fourteen ways he describes are strictly necessary or sufficient for fascism, just that fascism as it has emerges coalesces around such signifiers. The aesthetics and rhetoric of fascists is rather succinctly summed up in Ur-Fascism, but what fascism is in a more direct, structural sense is a somewhat different consideration.

The governing structure of fascist Italy, as an example, retained many of the facets of the liberal democratic system from which it emerged, with a legislature, a judiciary, and an executive. Mussolini was legally the prime minister- though he adopted the title of Duce, literally "leader"- and was appointed by a legislative council- though a new one created by the fascist party called the Grand Council of Fascism that by and large excluded the previous legislature- and the prime minister could legally be dismissed by the head of state, the king, after a sustained vote of no confidence similar to the UK's formulation. Fascist Italy also redoubled- rather than invented- Italian colonial policy, promoting the settlement of Italians into Libya and other African colonial projects and the genocide of local populations. The domestic economic policy of fascist Italy was also much more explicitly in the interests of private business: in 1939, the whole of Italy was explicitly proposed to be legally divided into 22 corporations which appointed members to parliament; labour organization outside of the appointed corporate structures and striking as a practice were banned. The interests of fascist Italy's ruling bodies was very overtly bourgeois, and their economic policy is often referred to as specifically corporatist.

Nazi Germany was similar in structure, though while the German parliament- called the Reichstag- was maintained, a series of laws were passed which enabled the Chancellor- Hitler, who was appointed such by President Hindenburg- and the cabinet to implement laws without parliamentary or presidential approval. The Hitler cabinet is generally considered to have been the defacto ruling body of Nazi Germany, though members of the Reichstag obviously still convened and drafted laws and ran elections and generally supported Nazi rule and the judiciary remained a distinct body. The Nazis also wanted to redouble their colonial policy in specifically Africa- a theatre in which they were snubbed compared to other European powers- but were by and large unable to secure resources there for continued expansion due to the British opposing them in protecting its own colonial projects. A rather infamous and demonstrative guiding principle of Nazi economic policy, Lebensraum- literally "living space"- sought specifically to appropriate land and other productive capital to give to Germans that they might be made petite bourgeois and small artisans; de-proletarianized and bourgeoisified, at the same time that the people such capital is expropriated from were made slaves to fuel further expansion or killed outright. This was imposed both within and, once the resources of social underclasses at home ran dry, without. The interests too of Germany's ruling bodies was very overtly bourgeois.

What all of this is to say is primarily that fascism as a governmental system is a legal permutation of liberal democracy, rather than a strict departure from it. The overriding interests of fascist states are also commensurately the interests of the bourgeoisie of those nations. It's an entirely logical progression of liberalism, to be frank, and a rather stark example of why liberal states should be opposed. The most violent fascist policy at home is often simply what liberal states have as their explicit foreign policy, for instance. As for whether this or the other politician in a liberal democracy is a fascist, I'd ask first and foremost that it be known that the Nazi policy of expansion was based first on the US policy of expansion; the cart isn't pulling the horse, as it were.

[siaradwast]

uk political parties: Okay we're starting our election campaigns, let's have a look at what people are concerned about so we can make appropriate policies to deal with this & appeal to voters

uk public: we're really concerned about the rising cost of living

rishi sunak: HAVE COMPULSORY HALF-THOUGHT OUT NATIONAL SERVICE

uk public: No we said we're concerned about the cost of-

conservatives and labour: you want us to fight over who can have the most unethical immigration policies??

uk public: we want to be able to afford groceries and heating

conservatives: ohhh i get it you want us to make benefits even more inaccessible and new policies to target disabled people??

uk public: can we at least get some good environmental policies so our energy is sustainable and prices aren't consistently rising??

uk political parties: TIKTOK MEME WAR

uk public: No!! coherent, realistic, helpful policies to reduce the costs of living!!

the lib dems for some reason: we have a massive yellow bus and Ed Davey fell off a paddleboard

[dreamings-free]

23/4/24 The Music Venue Trust has hit back at Manchester’s Co-Op Live for saying some grassroots venues are “poorly run” – despite having had to delay its own opening this week.

Co-Op Live, which cost £365million, is set to become the UK’s largest indoor arena when it opens, with a capacity of 23,500.

The venue’s executive director Gary Roden spoke to the BBC recently, where he discussed the proposed £1 ticket levy on all gigs arena-sized and above, to help secure the future of grassroots venues and artists.

Roden said that he was “very aware it’s a hot topic”, and that he was “embracing the conversation”, but that he believed the levy was “too simplistic”.

The report suggests that he thinks support should come directly from the government, and added that while he acknowledges the financial pressures on small venues, he thinks some of them are poorly run.

-> full article here at nme.com

Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd on twitter 20/4/24 :

linking to this article:

20/4/24 Bosses of the UK's largest arena have apologised for cancelling tickets to a test show hours before it was due to start.

It comes after organisers at Co-op Live in Manchester said they had to cut capacity for a preview concert by Rick Astley to allow them to test the 23,500-seater venue "effectively".

Those affected have instead been invited to the Black Keys show at the £365m arena next week.

Co-op Live is set to be officially opened by comedian Peter Kay on Tuesday.

-> full article here at bbc.com

and then the day before the official opening night..

22/4/24 Organisers at Manchester’s new Co-Op Live arena have postponed their opening Peter Kay shows.

[..]

A statement from the venue said: “Following our first test event on Saturday, regretfully we have made the difficult decision to reschedule our two opening performances by Peter Kay. It is critical to ensure we have a consistent total power supply to our fully electric sustainable venue, the completion of which is a few days behind.

-> full article here at nme.com

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Palantir’s NHS-stealing Big Lie

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in TUCSON (Mar 9-10), then SAN FRANCISCO (Mar 13), Anaheim, and more!

Capitalism's Big Lie in four words: "There is no alternative." Looters use this lie for cover, insisting that they're hard-nosed grownups living in the reality of human nature, incentives, and facts (which don't care about your feelings).

The point of "there is no alternative" is to extinguish the innovative imagination. "There is no alternative" is really "stop trying to think of alternatives, dammit." But there are always alternatives, and the only reason to demand that they be excluded from consideration is that these alternatives are manifestly superior to the looter's supposed inevitability.

Right now, there's an attempt underway to loot the NHS, the UK's single most beloved institution. The NHS has been under sustained assault for decades – budget cuts, overt and stealth privatisation, etc. But one of its crown jewels has been stubbournly resistant to being auctioned off: patient data. Not that HMG hasn't repeatedly tried to flog patient data – it's just that the public won't stand for it:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/21/nhs-data-platform-may-be-undermined-by-lack-of-public-trust-warn-campaigners

Patients – quite reasonably – do not trust the private sector to handle their sensitive medical records.

Now, this presents a real conundrum, because NHS patient data, taken as a whole, holds untold medical insights. The UK is a large and diverse country and those records in aggregate can help researchers understand the efficacy of various medicines and other interventions. Leaving that data inert and unanalysed will cost lives: in the UK, and all over the world.

For years, the stock answer to "how do we do science on NHS records without violating patient privacy?" has been "just anonymise the data." The claim is that if you replace patient names with random numbers, you can release the data to research partners without compromising patient privacy, because no one will be able to turn those numbers back into names.

It would be great if this were true, but it isn't. In theory and in practice, it is surprisingly easy to "re-identify" individuals in anonymous data-sets. To take an obvious example: we know which two dates former PM Tony Blair was given a specific treatment for a cardiac emergency, because this happened while he was in office. We also know Blair's date of birth. Check any trove of NHS data that records a person who matches those three facts and you've found Tony Blair – and all the private data contained alongside those public facts is now in the public domain, forever.

Not everyone has Tony Blair's reidentification hooks, but everyone has data in some kind of database, and those databases are continually being breached, leaked or intentionally released. A breach from a taxi service like Addison-Lee or Uber, or from Transport for London, will reveal the journeys that immediately preceded each prescription at each clinic or hospital in an "anonymous" NHS dataset, which can then be cross-referenced to databases of home addresses and workplaces. In an eyeblink, millions of Britons' records of receiving treatment for STIs or cancer can be connected with named individuals – again, forever.

Re-identification attacks are now considered inevitable; security researchers have made a sport out of seeing how little additional information they need to re-identify individuals in anonymised data-sets. A surprising number of people in any large data-set can be re-identified based on a single characteristic in the data-set.

Given all this, anonymous NHS data releases should have been ruled out years ago. Instead, NHS records are to be handed over to the US military surveillance company Palantir, a notorious human-rights abuser and supplier to the world's most disgusting authoritarian regimes. Palantir – founded by the far-right Trump bagman Peter Thiel – takes its name from the evil wizard Sauron's all-seeing orb in Lord of the Rings ("Sauron, are we the baddies?"):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/01/the-palantir-will-see-you-now/#public-private-partnership

The argument for turning over Britons' most sensitive personal data to an offshore war-crimes company is "there is no alternative." The UK needs the medical insights in those NHS records, and this is the only way to get at them.

As with every instance of "there is no alternative," this turns out to be a lie. What's more, the alternative is vastly superior to this chumocratic sell-out, was Made in Britain, and is the envy of medical researchers the world 'round. That alternative is "trusted research environments." In a new article for the Good Law Project, I describe these nigh-miraculous tools for privacy-preserving, best-of-breed medical research:

https://goodlawproject.org/cory-doctorow-health-data-it-isnt-just-palantir-or-bust/

At the outset of the covid pandemic Oxford's Ben Goldacre and his colleagues set out to perform realtime analysis of the data flooding into NHS trusts up and down the country, in order to learn more about this new disease. To do so, they created Opensafely, an open-source database that was tied into each NHS trust's own patient record systems:

https://timharford.com/2022/07/how-to-save-more-lives-and-avoid-a-privacy-apocalypse/

Opensafely has its own database query language, built on SQL, but tailored to medical research. Researchers write programs in this language to extract aggregate data from each NHS trust's servers, posing medical questions of the data without ever directly touching it. These programs are published in advance on a git server, and are preflighted on synthetic NHS data on a test server. Once the program is approved, it is sent to the main Opensafely server, which then farms out parts of the query to each NHS trust, packages up the results, and publishes them to a public repository.

This is better than "the best of both worlds." This public scientific process, with peer review and disclosure built in, allows for frequent, complex analysis of NHS data without giving a single third party access to a a single patient record, ever. Opensafely was wildly successful: in just months, Opensafely collaborators published sixty blockbuster papers in Nature – science that shaped the world's response to the pandemic.

Opensafely was so successful that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care commissioned a review of the programme with an eye to expanding it to serve as the nation's default way of conducting research on medical data:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-broader-safer-using-health-data-for-research-and-analysis/better-broader-safer-using-health-data-for-research-and-analysis

This approach is cheaper, safer, and more effective than handing hundreds of millions of pounds to Palantir and hoping they will manage the impossible: anonymising data well enough that it is never re-identified. Trusted Research Environments have been endorsed by national associations of doctors and researchers as the superior alternative to giving the NHS's data to Peter Thiel or any other sharp operator seeking a public contract.

As a lifelong privacy campaigner, I find this approach nothing short of inspiring. I would love for there to be a way for publishers and researchers to glean privacy-preserving insights from public library checkouts (such a system would prove an important counter to Amazon's proprietary god's-eye view of reading habits); or BBC podcasts or streaming video viewership.

You see, there is an alternative. We don't have to choose between science and privacy, or the public interest and private gain. There's always an alternative – if there wasn't, the other side wouldn't have to continuously repeat the lie that no alternative is possible.

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/08/the-fire-of-orodruin/#are-we-the-baddies

Image: Gage Skidmore (modified) https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peter_Thiel_(51876933345).jpg

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

[concerningwolves]

Amazon are upping their print costs for books, which means some (possibly many) self-pubbed authors may have to also up the cost of their book(s). I'd like to say now, to make it crystal clear for the record, this is not authors being greedy.

I think someone who looks up the royalty rate for KDP and sees "60% for exclusive publishing and 40% for non-exclusive" would think "Wow, these authors are getting paid good money!" but once you calculate the amount of the list price that Amazon eats after printing costs, that percentage can be literally pennies. The minimum, and I mean the absolute bare minimum that I could sell When Dealing with Wolves for after the changes is £12.48 – and if I did that, I would make £0.00. That's zero money. No royalties.

I repeat: 40% royalties on a book listed at £12.48 = nothing.

I currently have WDWW up at £14.00. My "40% cut" from that is £0.76. After the printing cost changes go into effect, I'll make £0.61 from each sale instead. I really don't want to up my prices, because frankly it enrages me that Amazon won't let me list my book for anything under £12, when the standard price of a fiction paperback in the UK is usually around £8.99 – but writing isn't my priority job, so I have that luxury. I'm not trying to make a living off my writing so much as using it to supplement what I make from the freelance career, which is a choice I made because I knew I could never cope with the workload required for a ""serious"" self-pubbed writing career without sabotaging myself. The £0.15 difference in royalties from one book sale isn't going to be the difference between me eating or not; it just really really annoys and disheartens me. (And, also, is further proof that I can't sustain a full-time writing career, because I'd run myself ragged for too little gain and then I wouldn't be able to eat).

But there are plenty of authors who are writing as their primary source of income, either because they can't do anything else or because they took the plunge they're building their career (and it shouldn't matter to you why someone is writing full-time, by the way. You want fiction media to interact with, then you need writers, and writers need to be paid in order to live in order to make more media). It's these authors who will have to up their book prices, and I feel in my bones that it's these authors who are going to face the backlash.

So, if you must be pissed off at someone, be pissed off at Amazon. The authors are probably pissed off, too (I certainly am!), so you'll be in good company.

(And if you can, buy the ebook version because we get better royalties, or see if the author has their own store where you can get the book, since they'll have more control over their own prices there).

[cassolotl]

UK government planning to scrap a major disability benefit

I'm only just scraping by and the government are proposing to take away PIP (a disability benefit), which would be HALF of my income wiped out.

"Reforms to personal independence payments (PIP) could include stopping regular cash payments, and instead offering claimants one-off grants for things like home adaptations." -- "Disabled people face end to monthly benefits cash", BBC News, 29 April 2024

And:

"The plans, which will be consulted on over the coming months, also include proposals to “move away from a fixed cash benefit system”, meaning people with some conditions will no longer receive regular payments, but instead access to treatment if their condition does not involve extra costs." -- "People with depression or anxiety could lose sickness benefits, says UK minister", Guardian, 29 April 2024

That's what the NHS is supposed to be doing...

Genuinely absolutely terrifying.

Can anyone living in the UK join in with an (hopefully!) overwhelming cascade of unique emails to their MP opposing this? WriteToThem.com makes it very quick and easy.

They're proposing to replace it with one-off grants that the individual can apply for, which is absurd and horrifying, so feel free to point out how that won't work as well!

Here's what I'm writing, and do not just copy-paste my letter/email, because that makes it less legit. Do your own thing, even just one sentence telling your MP that you're opposed is enough if that's all you can manage. Whatever you want to say is what your MP needs to hear.

Dear [MP's name], Today I learned that the government plan to scrap PIP, and maybe replace it with something like a one-off grant application process, before the next election. ("Disabled people face end to monthly benefits cash", BBC News, 29 April 2024: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0ry09d50wo) PIP is about half of my income (about 44%). I don't spend it on occasional large purchases, I spend it on countless things that are more expensive for me than they are for other people. PIP is in place to acknowledge, as it says in the above article, that disabled people's lives are more expensive than non-disabled people's lives by hundreds of pounds per week. ("Previous research from Scope suggests households with at least one disabled adult or child face an estimated average extra cost of £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households." That's £225 per week, and the maximum amount of PIP you can get is £184.) So firstly, it could be argued that PIP doesn't even cover the additional expenses of the average disabled household. And next, the cost of implementing an alternative system would be worse for disabled people, totally unsuited to its purpose, and more expensive to run. Worse for disabled people: Currently PIP acknowledges that being disabled takes a lot more work to maintain a comparable standard of living, and as it's an amount of work that the claimant cannot sustainably do, they are given money so that they can pay someone else to do it. These costs are distributed across all living expenses, in addition to occasional one-off purchases of e.g. mobility aids. Having to apply for one-off payments for expenses would be more work on top of that, so if the disabled person isn't able to do it (which is very likely) they will either have to work less in their day jobs in order to spend more time applying for one-off grants, or they will have to also apply for one-off payments to pay someone to apply for more one-off payments. This is self-evidently a waste of energy and time, and totally impractical, as well as being counter to the entire point of disability benefits. It would also be extremely undignified for the disabled people, and arguably against human rights (right to private life and dignity), to have to justify each purchase to the government. Totally unsuited to its purpose: One off-grants are not suited to ongoing higher expenses such as having to buy more prepared food (e.g. carrot batons are more expensive than raw carrots and go off much more quickly). Does this policy assume that disabled people's PIP is only for things like wheelchairs and walking sticks? More expensive to run: The system for PIP applications is already fairly backlogged, in that my last application took over 6 months to complete. I was awarded PIP for 10 years. If every application for a one-off grant had to be accompanied by an application of a similar scale that wouldn't be workable, so presumably an initial PIP application like the current system's would still be required to qualify for the system in the first place, and then following that, numerous smaller applications for money (e.g. for taxis, pre-chopped veg, painkillers, specialist clothing, etc.) would be carried out per person per month. The disability benefits system would have to be scaled up significantly, and it would be much more expensive. It is far cheaper to give people a set amount of money based on their needs; it's the same money that you would be giving them in grants anyway, but without having to process each purchase/one-off application. I implore you to oppose this proposal. It is blatantly unworkable to the level of absurdity, but more importantly it is inhumane. I look forward to your reply detailing your stance. Many thanks in advance. Yours sincerely, [My name]

But, again, if you can't manage anything long or complicated like that, your best is good enough. Even if they're not all perfectly written and detailed, we want to bowl them over with sheer quantity of emails.

[maester-cressen]

One of the most heartbreaking things about sharing and reading Palestine evacuation/survival fundraisers is to read how expensive and how hard to get some of the simplest products are in Gaza right now. Sardines, some of the cheapest fishes to ever get here in Brazil, cost up $30 USD a kilo.

Mohammed @ahmed0khalil is only nineteen but has so much on his shoulder. He has to provide for his five siblings, the youngest being six year old Ahmed. He's around 6 years younger than me, but has so many challenges getting food, treatment for his dad's diabetes/his brother's leg wound and hygiene products.

On top of all of this, his campaign (shared by 90-ghost and number 77 on gazavetters) is currently stagnating. It's one of the most important sources of income for the family, as they need to keep sustaining themselves while the border does not open for evacuation. If you live in the UK, you can enter this raffle to contribute to this campaign for a chance to gain a pearl phone charm!

Please boost this and donate if possible! Thank you <3

Taglist:

@fancysmudges @brokenbackmountain @mothblossoms @aleciosun

@fluoresensitive @khizuo @lesbiandardevil @transmutationisms

@schoolhater @timogsilangan @appsa @buttercuparry @sayruq @malcriada

@palestinegenocide @sar-soor @akajustmerry

@annoyingloudmicrowavecultist @feluka @tortiefrancis

@flower-tea-fairies @tsaricides @riding-with-the-wild-hunt

@visenyasdragon @belleandsaintsebastian @ear-motif

@kordeliiius @brutaliakhoa @raelyn-dreams @troythecatfish

@theropoda @tamarrud @4ft10tvlandfangirl

@queerstudiesnatural @northgazaupdates2 @skatezophrenic

@awetistic-things @camgirlpanopticon @baby-girl-aaron-dessner @nabulsi

@sygol @junglejim4322 @heritageposts @chososhairbuns @palistani

@dlxxv-vetted-donations

@illuminated-runas @dlxxv-vetted-donations

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[ana-bananya]

SUDAN NEEDS YOUR ATTENTION

The RSF's siege of El Jezira is still ongoing for over twenty days now. The attacks began after RSF commander Abuagla Keikal defected and joined SAF. The RSF is now torturing the people of Keikal's home state for his own actions.

In the town of al-Hilalia alone, at least 527 civilians have been murdered. Across Jezria, at least 1,237 people have been murdered as of November 10th. These reports are likely understatements, and deaths continue to rise.

The International Organization for Migration reports that more than 343,000 people have been displaced from Jezira state, seeking refuge in towns that are already overwhelmed with refugees due to the worsening displacement crisis.

Those who have been unable to evacuate Jezria face daily threats of looting, abductions/being taken as hostages, rape, and death. If they are not outright murdered by the RSF, they are killed by starvation, poisoning, or disease. There have also been reports of women resorting to suicide to avoid the trauma of being raped.

Please take action to support on the ground initiatives providing aid to Sudanese refugees, including those who have fled from Jezria state. Linked below are some highly reputable organizations that have been repeatedly shared by members of the Sudanese community. If you are able to donate to one, please do.

If you'd like to help further, the Sudan Funds website (organized by @/thisisNOTghaida on twitter) has a list of vetted campaigns for more organizations as well as individual families. Please consider adopting a family or campaign to post about.

To stay informed, please follow:

bsonblast (on twitter, insta, and tiktok)

Sudan.updates (insta)

Red_maat (insta)

tartola0123 (insta)

Sudan.updates (insta)

baobaboperation (insta)

Sdn.world (insta and twitter)

modathirzainalabdeen (insta and tiktok)

Londonforsudan (Twitter and insta. If you are in the London area, they also organize and post about protests you can attend)

If you feel uneducated about Sudan and are unsure where to start researching, @/red_maat' has put together a tool kit to help. The @/baobaboperation also has a brief starting guide.

REMEMBER TO BOYCOTT THE UAE:

Don't fly on Etihad Airlines, Emirates Airlines, or FlyDubai

Do not engage in tourism or travel to the UAE

Do not purchase gold, diamonds, cars, or broadcasting equipment exported by the UAE

Do not buy gas from BP or Shell stations

Contact your government officials

Canda (scroll to find "CANADA email MP, Foreign Affairs and Development")

United States

UK

If anyone has any templates for other countries, please reblog with the link so others can use it. If you're not in Canada, UK, or the US, you can use and modify any of the templates linked to use to send to your government officials.

Links to mutual aid funds below

[world-of-wales]

NEWS -

THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES ARE LAUNCHING A NEW RURAL MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMME

The Prince and Princess of Wales are funding a new pilot programme with Norfolk and Waveney Mind that will help the rural and farming community on the Sandringham Estate and in the surrounding areas.

The new pilot will provide additional mental health support and hopes to reach members of the 1,500-strong community in northwest Norfolk - around half of whom live on the Sandringham Estate.

The pilot programme will launch in 2025 and last two years. It is hoped it can become a blueprint for sustainable rural mental health funding which could then be rolled out across other estates in the UK.

Kensington Palace said rural isolation and poor mental health are still common problems across the UK.

Sonja Chilvers, interim chief executive of Norfolk and Waveney Mind, said: "We're delighted to be working with the Prince and Princess of Wales, who know our northwest Norfolk communities well, and we are keen to see the difference that this pilot will make to local people's mental health."