Fragarach

https://social.vivaldi.net/@Fragarach

Yorkshire resident disenfranchised European, NI exile, (very) slow cyclist. Ex HMF, ex NHS. Born 312.4 ppm atmospheric CO².
Slava Ukraini. Anti Genocide.
#NoBot #NoBots #NoAI

Quote:: "I may not practice what I preach, but God forbid I should preach what I practice " - G.K.Chesterton
Contact: On Signal if you want to private message, just ask

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npub1gk3q7yqrwetqnfamm067vyk6dx2tlhc65rzvex3t9ghqsmsaqw9st0r0pc

NIP-05 Address

fragarach_at_social.vivaldi.net@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsytgs0zqphv4sf57aaha0xztdxn99lmud2p3xvng4j5tsgdcws8zcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds629awe

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Last Notes

2026-08-16 06:06:36 UTC

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It's not just me who thinks there's nothing silly about that reason: the interaction reveals a lot about the person.

2026-07-19 05:46:54 UTC

I have just watched Count Binface's speech to the Oxford Union, and fuck me! I'd vote for him!
https://youtu.be/0Vlew9R2s2A?is=oLy4gYNjihsJ9BRY
#CountBinFace #UKPolitics #ClactonByElection

2026-07-18 19:07:02 UTC

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For myself, I follow R A Heinlein's advice (I know, I know):
There will often, perhaps always be no-one on the ballot you want to vote for. There will always be someone you want to vote against.

2026-07-05 17:58:35 UTC

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I was living in Germany in the 1980s. They sold sponges specially for cleaning dead insects off the windscreen.
I'm in Yorkshire now, but they were still needed when we returned around 1990.
Not any more 🫤

2026-07-05 13:38:56 UTC

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Totally agree. I used to have to try and keep my mouth closed, or tuck my chin down when cycling in the summer. Nowadays, I only get a reasonable number of flying insects along forest trails.
I don't know if there's a correlation with a reduction in songbird numbers?

2026-07-01 18:17:47 UTC

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Oh, it's just a pisser. I still have my wife's car, that had been serviced and MoT'ed not long before she died.
The insurance was going to provide a hire car, which I don't need.
But from experience, the payout will be the absolute minimum I'd have got as a trade-in, and it was mint.
Helen's car is more practical with 2 dogs, but older and just basic fossil fuelled transport when needed.
I'm just venting, I'm not seriously disadvantaged.

2026-07-01 17:53:11 UTC

Well,that's a bummer. Someone stole my car last night from outside my house.
Someone pinched a car from round the corner last week, but that was a new Range Rover.
Why would they nick an 8 year old Fiat 500? I was quite fond of it, it was a fun car to drive. And I'd just serviced, taxed and re-insured it.
It's not as if I live in a town either.
Hey ho.

2026-06-16 18:12:32 UTC

"Where is the outrage from these masked men about the disproportionate violence against women and girls? Why is there never any suggestion of vigilante justice against white men who kill the women they purport to love?"
#UK #Femicide #Immigration #Riot
https://www.thenerve.news/p/deborah-frances-white-column-belfast-riots-far-right-immigrants-women-domestic-abuse

2026-06-13 06:27:13 UTC

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"Testing? We don't need no steenking testing!"
I'm sure it'll be fine though, they'll have run it past their AI ...

2026-06-13 06:18:11 UTC

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Here we go again. Remember when the US classified encryption as a munition?
Using PGP or Mixmaster was a crime. And as for running a remailer ...
#AI #GenAI #Anthropic

2026-06-10 19:52:13 UTC

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Immigrants also have valid concerns about racism.
Many of them work in the caring professions and our NHS. The RCN has recently reported a shocking rise in racist abuse of, and attacks on, hospital staff.
They view this as being largely due to the the increasing normalisation of anti-immigrant sentiment fuelled by the press, right-wing hate mongers, as well as some politicians.

2026-06-07 18:35:25 UTC

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Thank you.
I don't have that problem, I just have our house still full of her clothes and things. I've managed to bring myself to pass on her coats, and some of her shoes, but there's still two wardrobes full of her dresses, skirts, slacks etc.
Her sister is taking it hard, they were very close.
Helen left her sister all her jewellery in her will (not very valuable), but she can't bring herself to even look at it yet.

2026-06-07 17:32:20 UTC

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Sorry to hear about your in-laws, both of them 🫂
Can sympathise about the funeral costs, just got the bill for my wife's funeral, and that's all on me.
Having your loved ones die is horrible enough, and there's so much else you have to deal with afterwards.
I hope you have people around to support you 🙏

2026-05-30 19:40:47 UTC

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Got it now, thank you!

2026-05-30 19:01:46 UTC

Link please:
I'm after a t-shirt with the Banksy cartoon of a bewigged judge beating a protester with a placard please.
I thought the NewsThump shop would have it, but can't see it there.
I want it to make a point for something in a couple of weeks.
#UK #Banksy

2026-05-24 10:43:06 UTC

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My feeling is that, while there are obviously multiple factors at work, a lot of it harks back to the 2008 banking crash. Austerity policies were introduced, and have been kept up ever since, whether or not they call it that. With a variety of scapegoats being used for why peoples lives got worse, teachers' pensions, the EU and lately immigrants, those actually responsible have escaped any penalties.
At the last GE, there was a widespread desire for change, and Labour promised to deliver that change. There is no real perception that they've either done so, or are on the way there.
The desire (and need!) for change is even stronger, and while I feel strongly that the Green options are preferable, the reality is that, with the active help of the majority of the media, Reform's marketing is much, much better.
#politics

2026-05-12 06:43:33 UTC

Oh dear!
I can understand the possible reasons behind it: it wouldn't have occurred to me that a houseboat is liable for council tax. Surely that should be covered in the mooring fees?
But the billionaire owned press are going to wet themselves over this.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy02wdzrg6jo
#UKPolitics #ZackPolanski

2026-03-18 07:04:21 UTC

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Or, possibly, because the increasing likelihood of a lasting agreement didn't suit the Israeli agenda?
#Iran #geopolitics

2026-03-05 17:05:51 UTC

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There's a lot said about increasing the use of renewables, and that's a good thing.
But, humans being human and stuck in the capitalist mindset, we're going to consume more and more and still more.
And unlike Malthus's postulate, we're going to take a majority of species with us.
Maybe, if the marmalade moron manages to precipitate the world war he seems to be trying for, enforced degrowth will follow from the ashes.
Or, we could follow Luigi Mangione's lead and start eliminating CEOs?

2026-03-01 09:35:37 UTC

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Took me a while to find this!
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/153/185/465/022/862/original/213528ea2af0b5cd.jpg

2026-02-27 18:14:34 UTC

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Got it, thanks. So I have henchies.

2026-02-27 17:56:40 UTC

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Question (for clarification): are henchmen minions, or are they mere accomplices?

2026-02-21 20:46:22 UTC

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https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/110/575/699/495/748/original/2439e1a7bafb49c4.jpg

2026-02-17 14:14:19 UTC

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Try going for a drive?
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/086/384/579/652/206/original/30b91871b2a7c636.jpg

2026-01-28 16:12:31 UTC

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In the high and far-off days, every single child would be back in the house in time to watch "The Man from UNCLE" because if you missed this weeks episode, that was it. No repeats or catchup from the 2, later 3 channels we had.
Now the BBC and,for some things Netflix, are bringing that back, so you have to wait until next week.
I like it, the enforced suspense adds to the enjoyment for me.

2026-01-24 15:10:52 UTC

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Amen to that!
https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/115/950/711/600/132/497/original/3e74cd1513be0f7e.jpg

2026-01-17 21:06:06 UTC

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I think that, in the current circumstances, dissociation from all US based tech (and that includes machinery and weaponry) is simply prudent.
And the UK military's contracts with Palantir should be got rid of immediately.
#EU #Greenland #anticircumvention

2025-12-22 18:09:16 UTC

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If there's a war, you can't hold elections, is that right?
#USPol #Greenland

2025-11-29 09:07:59 UTC

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An acquaintance of mine was complaining last night when I saw him about the rules. He missed a deadline (his own fault) and now has 10 weeks to come up with £3k for his whatever sort of leave to remain he needs.
While he has the money, although he'd undoubtedly choose to spend it on something else, he's lived here for 19 years.
The only benefits he's accessed while here has been the NHS for vaccinations and the usual things of life.
As he says, "Go home? There's no-one I know there any more, my job, my pension funds, my family are all here".
It's harsh.
#politics #migrants

2025-11-25 16:46:43 UTC

So, if you want to buy stuff, if it's audio or TV related, one of the companies to come out the best is Richer Sounds.
A company who, having bought several things from, I can wholeheartedly recommend.
https://news.sky.com/story/most-black-friday-offers-are-not-as-good-as-you-think-survey-shows-13475179
#BlackFriday

2025-11-14 06:48:44 UTC

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And also that HMG knows that the country's financial situation is a mess, and doesn't have anyone clever enough (or brave enough?) to make a significant difference.
I don't like the term "the economy", to me, it focuses attention on banking and businesses, not people who actually pay the price of decisions.
#politics

2025-11-11 13:42:57 UTC

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I'm still with Harry Patch and his view of Armistice Day.
I paraphrase: "In a railway carriage in Compiègne, the leaders of many countries sat down and signed an agreement to live in peace. Why the fuck they didn't do that five years and several million lives previously has never been explained".

2025-11-04 18:30:56 UTC

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I just read in a toot by Jack the Rebel Cat about how the Chancellor could raise some additional funds. It was mentioned that financial services aren't currently subject to VAT. Why ever not? We pay it on fuel, power, insurance premiums, all sorts of things that aren't discretionary purchases. So why should financial services be exempt?
https://mastodon.scot/@JackTheCat/115492686311825979
#politics

2025-10-15 10:02:54 UTC

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"cottage industry" implies the possibility of remuneration.
Stump up, Professor! 😁
#TellEveryone

2025-10-14 11:29:17 UTC

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https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/115/372/284/720/601/408/original/63d599e5df9821db.jpg

2025-10-08 15:47:10 UTC

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Yes, her actions and the results from those and her colleagues led to a complete change in the approach to ambulance provision, and led to the introduction of paramedics.
A real hero.

2025-10-03 12:57:58 UTC

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Meanwhile, after the Jaguar / Landrover fuck-up, I see Renault have now been hacked.
Yet we're supposed to believe that even more sensitive data will be safe with Crapita or Fujitsu, or most likely likely Thiel's Palantir.
By the way, did no-one explain to various governments that the Palantir was absolutely not a good thing in the stories?
#DigitalID

2025-10-02 13:00:42 UTC

In today's bit of good news, the Co-op is selling beer brewed on the Palestinian West Bank:
https://www.co-operative.coop/hdccbt
Oh, and that link has another link to a UK petition in this UN Year of Co-operation.
#Palestine #UK

2025-09-27 11:06:16 UTC

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That's lovely! Thank you for sharing!
It's interesting how people can overcome disadvantages that might be thought reduce them in some way.
There's a man in his sixties who lives near us. He's autistic, and officially registered as learning disabled as a child. But he doesn't want to stop working, and still employs several people in his landscaping business. For which he himself is required to hold a number of safety certications.

2025-09-27 08:07:52 UTC

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Many years ago, I took part in a local library initiative, which involved helping adults with reading difficulties to improve their reading skills. To cut a long story short, I was ashamed of my preconceptions. Many weren't slower people who couldn't read, they'd been let down by the education system, by their families, by society at large. Although the coping strategies they'd developed were impressive.
I imagine the issue hasn't improved since then.
#schools #politics #education

2025-09-25 05:44:58 UTC

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Perhaps because the Conservatives attempt to create or continue a "Northern Poorhouse" has always been misspelt? 😏