Tootfinder

"As a political force, the Labour left is finished. The tactic of entryism – entering the Labour party and changing it – is finished too."
"..a string of local council victories next year would pave the way for an unprecedented challenge to #Labour – not from the right, as the party has always had to fight, but from its radical flank. And this new movement could take parts of Lab…

The British left is coming for the Government
Whisper it as yet, but after five long years of confusion and disarray, the British left is rallying. Local political organisations are coalescing, from Chiswick to Liverpool to Newcastle. The Green P

Good for you Andy Burnham.
"At the weekend the continuity rebels won the backing of Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester. Burnham, who has become increasingly vocal in recent weeks in setting out an alternative, more muscular, soft left alternative to what Keir Starmer is offering, ... he urged Labour MPs to vote down the bill."

Labour government running that line between "there's not enough available resources to support immigrants" and "it's critical for the country to have babies that won't be economically productive for many years".
(An apparent dichotomy I imagine there's a non-racist reason for. And to be fair, despite the headlines, they haven't gone full national-natalist, just suggesting making it easier for people to start families.)

Have more children, says Bridget Phillipson
Education Secretary warns Britons of ‘worrying repercussions’ of falling birth rate

Human cost of Tory and Labour welfare cuts.
UK is no longer a Welfare State: it's becoming a Warfare State wiith reckless militarisation, and a war without bullets on the "surplus population".
'I've got no money. I'm constantly cold. I don't want to be here anymore' - Manchester Evening News

'I've got no money. I'm constantly cold. I don't want to be here anymore'
The Manchester Evening News spent a day at Citizen's Advice to find out what impact Labour's controversial welfare cuts could have

Protect existing claimants, punish future ones.
That will guarantee a future Labour Govt.
I can't decide whether the most conservative Civil Service since before the Second World War is passively pushing back on the Labour Govt or whether the Govt is stupid all on its own.
#UKPolitics

Strongest yet from #JohnMcDonnell
How long will he give it though, flogging this dead horse.
Starmer and co are trashing Labour’s legacy. We must take back control of our party – before it’s too late | John McDonnell | The Guardian

Good wishes and all power to the Labour rebels today. They won't vote to push 150,000 disabled people into poverty.
#UKPol #austerity #UKLabour

At some point I expect Canada’s Liberal Party to regress like Labour is doing in the UK. Our political class still look to both the UK and USA for direction, like meek children.
#canada #canpoli #cdnpoli #transrights #lgbtq2s
https://tech.lgbt/@grayface_ghost/114772720087665845

I heard the same old food systems scholar on the radio this morning discussing Jamil Jivani's call to end temporary foreign workers. The host asked some interesting questions about the origins of the program but dude didn't have much to say beyond "when I was young and worked on a farm..." because he's not a historian.
For any journalists out there, try getting in touch with Edward Dunsworth instead. Ed's an excellent historian at McGill of migrant labour in C…

‘Open prison’: The forced labour driving India’s $5 trillion economy dream | Labour Rights | Al Jazeera
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/6/7/open-prison-the-forced-labour-driving-indias-5-trillion-economy-dream?traffic_source=rss

“The band said: ‘You know what’s “not appropriate” Keir?!’ They then used an expletive to accuse the prime minister of arming a genocide.
Israel has strongly denied allegations of genocide relating to the ongoing war in Gaza.”
– BBC
israel has strongly denied that it’s raining, have they, BBC? So tell me, what do you see when you look out the fucking window?
#bbc

❗ "Massey is the 13th councillor in Scotland, out of a total of 1,226, to have defected to Reform"
- I can't help wondering if Farage, who has access to large sums of right-wing American money, is PAYING those councillors to defect, literally BUYING THEM.

"Labour blocks proposal for ‘swift bricks’ in all new homes"
#UK #UnitedKingdom #Houses #Birds

Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, who is one of the leading opponents of the bill, said: “They are going to have to go back to the negotiating table … deaf and disabled people’s organisations [DDPOs] are rejecting these changes as it fails to address future need and gives no security for people with fluctuating conditions, for instance where people are in remission.”
Starmer still facing Labour anger over fears of ‘two-tier’ welfare system

Starmer's Labour outdid the fucking Tories for supplying war criminals.
#IsraelIsATerroristState #BoycottIsrael #IsraeliWarCrimes

The current UK government, supposedly "Labour", looking more and more right-wing as days pass.. And then politicians wonder why people stop voting to the "left" 🙃
"UK will look into more ‘transactional’ approach to granting visas, says Starmer"
h…

I see Starmer is once again taking to the national stage to tell everyone that Reform are correct, that Reform have accurately described the source of the problems of British people.
Telling everyone that migrants are a problem, that migrants are causing trouble, that migrants need to be cracked down upon.
And then he somehow thinks this will make people more likely to vote Labour?
It's basically a massive country wide national advertising campaign for Reform.
Well done Labour. When you lose it will be your own fault.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/may/11/english-test-among-range-of-labour-measures-to-control-immigration

Bloody assholes.

Keir had not been the same since he rented his mouth hole to the Bovine Excrement Delivery Company. https://mastodon.ie/@bullivant/114727764609793797

Canadians: Replace Ardern with Trudeau and use other Canadian touchstones in place of #nzpol and you have an accurate article for Canada.
Which should speak to what Progressives actually need to do here, and everywhere.
"Ardern’s leadership has often been described as emotionally intelligent, compassionate, and people-centred. But compassion is not liberation. Empathy alone does not redistribute wealth, dismantle police power, or decommodify housing. What Ardern perfected was a mode of governance that couched neoliberalism in progressive language. A style of leadership that appeared anti-fascist, anti-racist, and feminist, while presiding over deepening inequality, mass incarceration of Māori, ongoing colonisation, environmental destruction, and a housing system that serves landlords and property speculators.
Ardern’s “politics of kindness” masked a status quo commitment to capitalism and state power. Her government’s housing policies floundered under the weight of market logic. Despite the crisis of homelessness and unaffordability, the Labour government never seriously considered nationalising housing, implementing rent controls, or seizing vacant properties from land-bankers. Instead, they protected the interests of property investors, many of whom were MPs themselves."
#canpoli #cdnpoli #trudeau #Liberal #Ardern
https://www.anarchistfederation.net/the-cult-of-kindness-the-reality-of-jacinda-arderns-leadership/

"The real threat posed by generative AI is not that it will eliminate work on a mass scale, rendering human labour obsolete. It is that, left unchecked, it will continue to transform work in ways that deepen precarity, intensify surveillance, and widen existing inequalities."
"The current trajectory of generative AI reflects the priorities of firms seeking to lower costs, discipline workers, and consolidate profits — not any drive to enhance human flourishing. If we allo…

Is the AI Bubble About to Burst?
In the years since Automation and the Future of Work first appeared, a new wave of technological enthusiasm has swept across the popular imagination. The catalyst this time has been the rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence, spearheaded by companies like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Meta. Once again, a c

Just who are these hammock-dwelling emperors who have 23 hours of free time a week?!

https://theconversation.com/im-a-luddite-you-should-be-one-too-163172

I’m a Luddite. You should be one too
Why a workers’ rebellion in 19th-century England is relevant in the age of data extraction, gig labour and management by algorithm.

A look at Walmart's use of automation to grow sales without adding staff, as analysts say its efforts raise questions about the future of US retail labor (Gregory Meyer/Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/5be70b28-018d-42d7-af8d-ea5a4bed4d44

Walmart is supercharging revenue — but with fewer workers
Growth in ecommerce and automation sparks questions about future of retail sector’s labour force

In France, carbon tax revenues are best used to reduce labour costs and increase transfer payments https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988325003603 @…

The Times They Are-a-Changin: Labour is no longer the default left option | Morning Star https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/times-they-are-changin-labour-no-longer-default-left-option

Yeah, if you're still a Starmer supporter after his racist Enoch Powell channelling, it's a block from me.
Have some fucking limits, centrists. You know, like on genocide or killing babies or racism?
Why is it that right-wing cunts always hijack Labour? Fuck off and join the Tories, traitors.

I support Palestine Action more than I support this terrible genocide-enabling so-called "labour" government.
Does that mean I'm going to go to jail? Will I have to hand myself in?
#ukPol

The UK local election results so far are fairly grim. People are understandably cross with #Labour, they have put themselves in an awkward position where they have effectively promised not to raise any of the maIn sources of tax when demands on the treasury are rising.
The Reform party cannot be the answer. They are a collection of easy answers to problems where there are no easy answers. …

I wonder how it shows up in practice that the mayor of Graz is from the communist party since 2021? (Which got most votes in the municipal elections.) The coalition leading the city consists of KPÖ (communists), Greens, and SPÖ (Labour).

China Mieville contra Perry Anderson: Anti-Streeck
»On immigration, socialist demands should include full labour and civic rights for migrants, full entitlement to benefits, unionisation across the economy, and an undoing of vulnerabilities that contribute to the super-exploitation of migrants.«
https://www.

Sign the petition: Save Our Swifts. Swifts alone have lost more than half their population in just 20 years. A big help would be to incorporate a “swift brick” that gives these birds a place to nest in all new houses. #Swifts
https://

Sign the petition: Save Our Swifts
Swifts have lost more than half their population in 20 years. A simple £35 brick in new builds could help save them. Labour used to support this – now they’re planning to backtrack. Sign the petition now to show them the public still backs this nature-friendly fix:

‘Targeting trans people and migrants isn’t where oppression ends – it’s where it begins’
https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/06/04/pride-month-migration-refugees-lgbtq-labour-uk/

"Ed Miliband says Labour will ‘win fight’ against UK net zero critics"
#UK #UnitedKingdom #NetZero #Climate

"A new government of austerity and war, in a deteriorating international situation, after 17 years of economic slump and stagnation, unable to confront crises from genocide to climate change to housing shortages and preparing the way for far-right rule, would warrant sustained opposition from the left under any circumstances."
The Times They Are-a-Changin: #Labour is no longer the de…

Very impressed with DJI service: 45 EUR total (incl. labour, postage) to repair a damaged gimbal. With sub-week turnaround.

masks at protests / demographics
Interestingly, at the May Day gathering I was the only one in a mask.
Thinking about the contrast with the trans protest the other week, where "good" (fitted not floppy) masks were dotted about throughout the crowd, and felt normalised.
Today's march was a less crowded event than the trans protest, so pretty low-risk for covid transmission anyway. But then when we got to the mini-fair after the march, indoors at the Friends' Meeting House, I didn't see anyone masking indoors either.
I wonder about the demographics of that difference. Seems like there's a traditional union/Labour left who share the mainstream denial of present-day covid, and a statistically more disabled & marginalised cohort where trans awareness and disability/illness awareness overlap.
#masks #CovidIsntOver

1/
Commentary by @… (noted by @…: https://toot.ca…

A Novel, Human-in-the-Loop Computational Grounded Theory Framework for Big Social Data
Lama Alqazlan, Zheng Fang, Michael Castelle, Rob Procter
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.06083

A Novel, Human-in-the-Loop Computational Grounded Theory Framework for Big Social Data
The availability of big data has significantly influenced the possibilities and methodological choices for conducting large-scale behavioural and social science research. In the context of qualitative data analysis, a major challenge is that conventional methods require intensive manual labour and are often impractical to apply to large datasets. One effective way to address this issue is by integrating emerging computational methods to overcome scalability limitations. However, a critical conc…

COALESCE: Economic and Security Dynamics of Skill-Based Task Outsourcing Among Team of Autonomous LLM Agents
Manish Bhatt, Ronald F. Del Rosario, Vineeth Sai Narajala, Idan Habler
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.01900

COALESCE: Economic and Security Dynamics of Skill-Based Task Outsourcing Among Team of Autonomous LLM Agents
The meteoric rise and proliferation of autonomous Large Language Model (LLM) agents promise significant capabilities across various domains. However, their deployment is increasingly constrained by substantial computational demands, specifically for Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) resources. This paper addresses the critical problem of optimizing resource utilization in LLM agent systems. We introduce COALESCE (Cost-Optimized and Secure Agent Labour Exchange via Skill-based Competence Estimation…

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.17216 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_eco…

The long-term impact of (un)conditional cash transfers on labour market outcomes in Ecuador
Despite the popularity of conditional cash transfers in low- and middle-income countries, evidence on their long-term effects remains scarce. This study assesses the impact of Ecuador's Human Development Grant on the formal sector labour market outcomes of children in eligible households. This grant, one of the first of its kind, is characterized by weak enforcement of its eligibility criteria. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that the programme had no overall impact on formal e…

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.13556 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_csRO_…

Learning Collision Risk from Naturalistic Driving with Generalised Surrogate Safety Measures
Accurate and timely alerts for drivers or automated systems to unfolding collisions remains a challenge in road safety, particularly in highly interactive urban traffic. Existing approaches require labour-intensive annotation of sparse risk, struggle to consider varying contextual factors, or are useful only in the scenarios they are designed for. To address these limits, this study introduces the generalised surrogate safety measure (GSSM), a new approach that learns exclusively from naturalis…

"CCC: UK climate advisers now ‘more optimistic’ net-zero goals can be met"
#UK #UnitedKingdom #Climate #ClimateChange

CCC: UK climate advisers now ‘more optimistic’ net-zero goals can be met - Carbon Brief
The UK government’s official climate advisers are now “more optimistic” that the country can hit its emissions targets than they were before the Labour government was elected in July 2024.

The right wing threat and a viable future
A statement from Steady State Manchester Introduction With horror we see the electoral success of POX, The party of Xenophobes and Fascists (which, without irony, actually calls itself Reform UK1). In the May election round they gained 677 more councillors, took control of 8 councils, landed a regional Mayor and gained another MP, in a formerly safe Labour seat.

The right wing threat and a viable future
A statement from Steady State Manchester Introduction With horror we see the electoral success of POX, The party of Xenophobes and Fascists (which, without irony, actually calls itself Reform UK1).…

'In the local data that the audit examined from three [THREE] police forces, they identified clear evidence of “over-representation among suspects of Asian and Pakistani-heritage men”.
'However, the review also criticised the ongoing failure to collect ethnicity at a national level, with it not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators, making it impossible “to provide any accurate assessment from the nationally collected data”.'
Not so conclusive then.

What is the Casey report on UK grooming gangs – and why did Labour U-turn?
The report addressed the UK’s institutional failure to protect children and teenage girls from sexual exploitation.

Feeling Guilty Being a c(ai)borg: Navigating the Tensions Between Guilt and Empowerment in AI Use
Konstantin Aal, Tanja Aal, Vasil Navumau, David Unbehaun, Claudia M\"uller, Volker Wulf, Sarah R\"uller
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.00094

Feeling Guilty Being a c(ai)borg: Navigating the Tensions Between Guilt and Empowerment in AI Use
This paper explores the emotional, ethical and practical dimensions of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into personal and professional workflows, focusing on the concept of feeling guilty as a 'c(ai)borg' - a human augmented by AI. Inspired by Donna Haraway's Cyborg Manifesto, the study explores how AI challenges traditional notions of creativity, originality and intellectual labour. Using an autoethnographic approach, the authors reflect on their year-long experiences with AI tools, re…

Overcoming Data Scarcity in Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy Image Segmentation
Nikola L. Kolev, Max Trouton, Filippo Federici Canova, Geoff Thornton, David Z. Gao, Neil J. Curson, Taylor J. Z. Stock
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.01678

Overcoming Data Scarcity in Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy Image Segmentation
Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) is a powerful technique for imaging surfaces with atomic resolution, providing insight into physical and chemical processes at the level of single atoms and molecules. A regular task of STM image analysis is the identification and labelling of features of interest against a uniform background. Performing this manually is a labour-intensive task, requiring significant human effort. To reduce this burden, we propose an automated approach to the segmentation of…

Labour is forever dead to me, it stands for nothing.

"Labour using Brexit to weaken nature laws, MPs say"
#UK #UnitedKingdom #Nature #Environment

The 2024 #Labour Budget allocated just £11.3 billion to climate change mitigation and adaptation—covering everything from carbon capture* and
nuclear energy* to tree planting and EV charging*—compared to
at least £58 billion for military spending.
NB, those with a * are fake climate mitigation.
#warmongering

Starmer's Labour government complicity.
Fury as minister admits Britain is still training Israeli troops amid Gaza genocide | Morning Star
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/fury-minister-admits-br…

Machine-learning Growth at Risk
Tobias Adrian, Hongqi Chen, Max-Sebastian Dov\`i, Ji Hyung Lee
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.00572 https://

Machine-learning Growth at Risk
We analyse growth vulnerabilities in the US using quantile partial correlation regression, a selection-based machine-learning method that achieves model selection consistency under time series. We find that downside risk is primarily driven by financial, labour-market, and housing variables, with their importance changing over time. Decomposing downside risk into its individual components, we construct sector-specific indices that predict it, while controlling for information from other sectors…

"Labour issue Supplementary Badger Cull licences for 2025!"
#UK #UnitedKingdom #Badgers #Animals

Labour issue Supplementary Badger Cull licences for 2025!
Natural England confirms second year of badger culling under 2024 Supplementary licences, challenged in upcoming court case by Badger Trust and Wild Justice.

Another of the supposed "defence experts" (aka #warmongers) advising Labour. The article identifies 2 others, "Lord Robertson, a former Nato secretary general, and the retired general Sir Richard Barrons".
Any experts on #peace,

Corbyn calling out the 'Labour' warmongers.
#warmongering

Nottingham May Day march
Out by the Central Library listening to May Day March speeches.
Lots of Palestine flags, Nottingham Against Transphobia, banners from Unison, Royal College of Nursing. Also Stand Up to Racism, who in my book are still questionable due to their links with the SWP.
Apparently there's some current strike action about back pay for health workers, I only got the gist of it.
Also heard from Save Our Services, and just now it was Shuguftah Quddoos speaking on behalf of the Green Party. Last I heard, Shuguftah was Labour, but apparently not any more!
#Nottingham #MayDay2025 #SaveOurServices #GreenParty

#PondLife #PoolPond #Backyard #DIY #PortAlberni #Home
$CAD1100 is a lot to spend on just a couple items, but I guess in the grand scheme of making a pond/pool that will completely transform our backyard, it's not crazy. This about equals the amount spent ($1200 iirc) to rent the digger last Labour Day weekend. The liner and underlay fabric was another $3000. So we're looking at about $5500 so far for the project as a whole. Still better (including for the ecosystem!) than your average $50,000 in-ground pool install. ;=D
I realized last night that I bought the wrong pumps (DCT vs DCP argh). One of those “oh that's cheaper than I thought it would be” moments... followed by... “oh crap.”
I'll send the previous pumps back immediately upon arrival.
It's ok though, these will be two 20,000L/h variable pumps. The entire pond/pool system should be no more than 23,000L. My biggest rookie mistake with the #pandemicpond in the front yard was too small a pump. I rectified that when I added the bog filters there.
So I'm overbuilding this time. I should be able to run them at low-speed/power for the same amount of flow. Which will be better for pump longevity and power over time.
Also got main piping for the system: 50ft of 2" flexible PVC (Schedule 40). This will move water from the intake bay (behind the tree) to the bog filter (in front of the tree) and connect to smaller diameter piping/valves/fittings for sprayers in the pool.
This should be the end of the big-ticket items. The rest will be a LOT of little stuff: electrical, piping, and a lot of rock. Probably another $1000-$1500 to go, all should be local, and some of it can be put off until next year if needed.
It took a few tries on the Bezos Site, but I managed to find a supplier within Canada to avoid tariffs on any of it because Tariff-flation is definitely a thing! (American .com store essentially doubled the cost!)
So ya, you can hashtag this #tariffs #TariffLife #TheAmericanFascist and #TrumpTariffs

"UK spending review 2025: Key climate and energy announcements"
#UK #UnitedKingdom #Climate #ClimateChange

UK spending review 2025: Key climate and energy announcements - Carbon Brief
Rachel Reeves has unveiled the first spending review under the current Labour government, announcing funding for nuclear power, energy efficiency and other technologies

"Reform UK backs plan to put swift bricks in every new home in England"
#UK #UnitedKingdom #Birds #Animals