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merridew @feddit.uk
Posts 87
Comments 193
www.lbc.co.uk British Airways pilot 'snorted drugs off topless woman on night out then tried to fly 12-hour trip to UK'

A married British Airways pilot snorted cocaine off a woman's breasts then tried to fly passengers to the UK.

British Airways pilot 'snorted drugs off topless woman on night out then tried to fly 12-hour trip to UK'
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Sunak hails Rosebank oil field approval amid climate outcry
  • £10.6 billion to the UK government in North Sea revenue for 22/23 v. £2.6 billion for 21/22.

    • Equinor (Rosebank majority owner) revenues for 22: $75 billion

    • Ithaca (Rosebank minority owner) revenues for 22: $1.9 billion

    • BP (formerly state-owned; majority privatisation under Thatcher, from 1979) revenues for 22: $241 billion, for record profit of $28 billion (£23 billion)

  • London apartment block that deviates from plans must be torn down, says council
  • Well

    only one in 10 council planning departments are fully staffed, with 13% operating with fewer than three-quarters of posts filled

    with

    80% [of local authorities] reporting they did not have enough officers to carry out their workload

    because

    long-term cuts to funding have had a visible impact on planning departments’ ability to retain staff... there has been a 43% fall in resources to the planning system from local authorities since 2009-10.

    https://www.lgcplus.com/services/regeneration-and-planning/planning-people-go-from-council-to-council-chasing-the-money-17-05-2023/

  • www.theguardian.com London apartment block that deviates from plans must be torn down, says council

    ‘Blight on the landscape’ in Greenwich lacks promised gardens, children’s play areas and accessibility for wheelchair users

    London apartment block that deviates from plans must be torn down, says council
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    www.theguardian.com ‘Feminist approach’ to cancer could save lives of 800,000 women a year

    Gender inequality and discrimination impede timely diagnoses and quality care for women around the world, says report

    ‘Feminist approach’ to cancer could save lives of 800,000 women a year

    > "Globally, women’s health is often focused on reproductive and maternal health, aligned with narrow anti-feminist definitions of women’s value and roles in society, while cancer remains wholly underrepresented."

    1
    newsthump.com Government to replace HS2 rail link to Manchester with brand new horse and cart

    The government has today revealed plans to scrap the HS2 rail link from Birmingham to Manchester in favour of a brand new horse and cart fleet for the north.

    Government to replace HS2 rail link to Manchester with brand new horse and cart
    0
    newsthump.com Elon Musk hails successful Neuralink trial in which implanted monkeys successfully used credit cards to pay for Twitter

    Neuralink brain implants have taken an important technological leap after tests showed monkeys would be willing to pay for Twitter after their chips were activated.

    Elon Musk hails successful Neuralink trial in which implanted monkeys successfully used credit cards to pay for Twitter
    0
    www.theguardian.com ‘No one knew anything’: rail passenger’s 11-hour London to Edinburgh odyssey

    Comedian James Nokise tweets long train and taxi journey after track fault that also stranded school group

    ‘No one knew anything’: rail passenger’s 11-hour London to Edinburgh odyssey
    0
    www.bbc.co.uk David Walliams sues company behind Britain's Got Talent

    Walliams files a High Court case against the show's production company following his exit as a judge.

    David Walliams sues company behind Britain's Got Talent
    0
    www.theguardian.com Pepper spray could be used at young offender institutions in England and Wales

    Exclusive: Whitehall sources say use of Pava to incapacitate children is under consideration amid sharp rise in violence

    Pepper spray could be used at young offender institutions in England and Wales
    1
    Russell Brand: Woman says star exposed himself to her then laughed about it on Radio 2 show
  • Following the investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4's Dispatches programme into Brand's alleged behaviour, published earlier this month, Olivia says she tracked down a recording of the programme.

    The episode, which aired on 21 June, 2008, features this exchange between Brand and Matt Morgan.

    This exchange on The Russell Brand Show was recorded minutes after the incident

    Morgan: It's been 25 minutes since he showed his willy to a lady.

    Brand: (Laughing) Very easy to judge! Very easy to judge!

    Morgan: The receptionist…

    Brand: (Laughing) Look…

    Morgan: Receive this!

    Morgan adds: "He got told off for ringing a bell, minutes later he's showing his willy." Brand can be heard laughing in the background.

    Olivia, who has never worked as a receptionist, says she felt disgusted when she heard it.

  • www.bbc.co.uk Russell Brand: Woman says star exposed himself to her then laughed about it on Radio 2 show

    The incident, which happened in Los Angeles in 2008, is the first time Brand has been heard publicly admitting sexual misconduct.

    Russell Brand: Woman says star exposed himself to her then laughed about it on Radio 2 show
    7
    newsthump.com Man who spent all his money on NFTs fails to pay his gas bill with JPEG of an ape

    As news emerged that the NFT market has all but collapsed, leaving millions of NFTs effectively worthless, a man who spent all of his life savings on NFTs, convinced they would make him rich, has s…

    Man who spent all his money on NFTs fails to pay his gas bill with JPEG of an ape
    12
    www.theguardian.com Daniel Khalife pleads not guilty to escaping custody at Wandsworth prison

    Former soldier was on remand charged with terrorism offences and is now in Belmarsh prison in south-east London

    Daniel Khalife pleads not guilty to escaping custody at Wandsworth prison
    14
    www.theguardian.com Watchdog criticises payment of Boris Johnson’s £265,000 Partygate legal bill

    NAO says Cabinet Office failed to follow proper processes when taxpayers’ money was used to fund legal bills

    Watchdog criticises payment of Boris Johnson’s £265,000 Partygate legal bill
    3
    phys.org Witchcraft accusations an 'occupational hazard' for female workers in early modern England

    While both men and women have historically been accused of the malicious use of magic, only around 10–30% of suspected witches were men by the 16th and 17th centuries.

    Witchcraft accusations an 'occupational hazard' for female workers in early modern England
    2
    Tories and Local Governments Refuse To Approve More Homes
  • Look, organisations with unpleasant views aren't universally stupid. Turning Point states upfront that its mission is to "identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote freedom", but dig down and you find fun stuff like this: https://www.tpusa.com/live/pro-choicers-are-sick-and-twisted

    I'd also like to note that praising some historically left-wing policies, and criticising some loonies, should not mean that you stop looking critically at the other things a person says.

    Authoritarian policies that deny women choice aren't limited to right-wing governments. If you support women's rights to choice, Hungary is not a country you would praise.

    ‘Baby machines’: eastern Europe’s answer to depopulation The conference in Budapest opened with a sand animation video of migrants rushing towards Europe, and was laced with references to the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which suggests that shadowy forces want to replace so-called “native” Europeans with outsiders. “There are political forces in Europe who want a replacement of population for ideological or other reasons,” Orbán told the conference. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/04/baby-bonuses-fit-the-nationalist-agenda-but-do-they-work

  • Tories and Local Governments Refuse To Approve More Homes
  • You know, pretty much all of that website seems to be written by one guy. So I looked up some of his other work.

    the myth that women primarily work for reasons other than economics or family needs distorts reality https://medium.com/@daviddemos/women-under-siege-quick-notes-on-the-rights-assault-on-women-s-work-choices-and-family-formation-c3b27c6266e6

    It's hard to draw conclusions. Who knows. But what I will say is that this guy clearly spends a lot of time thinking about how certain women can be coaxed into having more babies.

    Women in Europe, North America, and some countries in Asia.

  • Tories and Local Governments Refuse To Approve More Homes
  • You can increase social spending and still have contempt for women's right to bodily autonomy. The two don't go automatically hand in hand. In fact if your social spending is geared towards having more babies, it most likely won't be.

  • Tories and Local Governments Refuse To Approve More Homes
  • Not really. If your goal is to undo "retreating state support," you can do that without praising far-right regimes aiming to restrict women's rights to bodily autonomy.

    The fact that they gloss over that little aspect is suspicious.

    Their website is conspicuously opaque regarding its funding, and "stop population decline" is curiously close to (but notably more palatable than) the 14 Words, while still acting as an effective dog-whistle for people familiar with those words.

  • RIP summer

    Look, I know the forecast was for Saturday to be the last hot day of the year, but I thought we might have a few days of grey before the start of all-out autumn rainstorms.

    8
    Tories and Local Governments Refuse To Approve More Homes
  • They have a bunch of stuff about "promoting fertility", eg

    the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Israel offer lessons. These countries have managed to increase fertility rates by introducing pro-natal policies — a combination of cash incentives, subsidised childcare, and housing assistance

    which all sounds lovely and idyllic, but in reality the far-right government in Hungary has been throttling access to abortion with new legislation that is

    an extension of the government’s anti-abortion policies, aimed at boosting the birthrate

    meaning that

    legal abortions [have] become increasingly difficult as the compulsory counselling sessions were becoming more aggressive and difficult to schedule

    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/sep/13/hungary-tightens-abortion-access-with-listen-to-foetal-heartbeat-rule

    I can't definitely figure out the angle either. But they are a pro-fertility organisation praising a far-right regime that is implementing regressive "pro-life" policies at the expense of women's rights, and they are very careful not to highlight the true nature of these policies on their website.

    They're also headquartered in Texas. So... draw your own conclusions.

  • www.theguardian.com ‘It’s organised looting’: UK in grip of a shoplifting epidemic, say store owners

    Shop thefts have more than doubled in the past three years, costing retailers £953m a year, according to the British Retail Consortium

    ‘It’s organised looting’: UK in grip of a shoplifting epidemic, say store owners
    35
    www.bbc.co.uk Cost of living: Loyalty card prices mask price hikes, says Which?

    Sainsbury's and Tesco deny misleading customers on price offers through loyalty schemes.

    Cost of living: Loyalty card prices mask price hikes, says Which?
    11