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by SpeakTruth

6 December 2024 4 dys

Computer Trouble On The Horizon: Post Office Scandal

Many folk have been following the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and many more have watched the Mister Bates vs The Post Office drama screened on TV. It is an emotive set of circumstances and an injustice on a grand scale. It, also, presages future issues with AI taking over the lives of workers and people, more generally. Computer trouble on the Horizon: Post Office scandal. It rang true for me and captured my interest as soon as it was brought to my attention. Possibly because I grew up in a small family business with a sub branch of the Post Office contained within it.

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by SpeakTruth

14 November 2024 4 weeks

Being Stoic: What Is It?

I could begin with a brief history lesson about Stoicism but this is not the essence of it. Being Stoic: What is it? Doing stuff you don’t want to do but know that you have to do anyway. The expression ‘soldiering on,’ invariably comes to mind, as soldiers have to do a lot of shitty things they really would rather not. Duty is a big one for Stoics. Virtue, even, more so. WTF is virtue anyway? It is a word, which has not stood the test of time. It exists as an anachronism, a term draped in cobwebs and an echo from the ancient world. This is old stuff and does it truly having any bearing on our lives today?

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man in blue denim vest and black cap sitting on brown wooden chair

by SpeakTruth

12 November 2024 4 weeks

Why Appealing To White Working Class Folk Is A Race To The Bottom?

Democrats in America are scratching their heads over Trump’s victory in the recent presidential election. Soul searching is going on, as to how they lost this contest. Democratic elections are popularity contests. They are part evaluations, part bribery, and mirrors held up to societies. Op eds are being written about the role of working class America in the outcome. Chasing this vote is problematic in my view. Why appealing to white working class folk is a race to the bottom? Demagogues, like Donald Trump, falsely court this vote and pretend to champion their grievances. Trump did not deliver for them the first time around and will not again. It is a cynical game and losers always lose out in the end.

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Midas Word Follow

SpeakTruth

Midas Word @midasword ·

7 Dec

The rentier economy is everywhere. Have a look at your bank account statements if you doubt my appraisal of the situation. You cannot scratch yourself without incurring a charge.

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Midas Word @midasword ·

7 Dec

There is no freedom left in Australia, as cash money was the last bastion. It is a land of bankers, corporate bastards and complicit politicians.

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Midas Word @midasword ·

6 Dec

Each one of these were told when they rang the Horizon IT helpline that nobody else was experiencing these issues. They were blatantly lied to, as a company line – which must have been a scripted response

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Midas Word @midasword ·

23 Nov

As much as we like to focus on how wonderfully advanced we are by sending rockets to the moon etc. The truth is many of us remain violently rooted in the simian behaviour of our ancestors at times during our lives.

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Episode 12: The Politics of Grievance - Robert Sudha Hamilton's Podcast

America is the great democratic experiment. Although, this is getting on for some 250 years now. This nation is in the grip of the politics of grievance. Partisan politics in America is more about hating the other side than particularly loving the side you are voting for. Americans have been encouraged to focus their attention upon their grievances via decades of negative campaigning and attack ads. Demonizing ‘the other’ is the favoured political pastime in the 21C. Identity politics and social values are the main game these days. Economic issues are now seen through this ideological filter.Murdoch, Fox & Stirring Grievance In AmericaRupert Murdoch and his Fox News are merchants of toxic polarization. This network is spewing out lies and fake news 24/7. Every presentation is top heavy in anti-woke content and a right wing bias. Regular viewers are sucked into a spin cycle of libertarian anti-government GOP grievance stoking. Old white men upset at their changing worlds, where heaven forbid minorities are now getting a say. OMG the sky is going to fall in. In this partisan realm complaints about there being too many coloured faces on TV and LGBTQIA folk making too much noise are legion. Uppity women talking about sexual harassment and such like make their viewer’s blood boil – which is the whole idea for Fox. Getting their audience riled up keeps eyeballs on them and advertising rates going up for their revenue.Popularizing Poisonous Issues For Political GainThe politics of grievance is all about popularizing these causes for the benefit of candidates and the party. The party promoting these grievances doesn’t need positive policies. They just bang on about how the other side is to blame for the problem.

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