Hold on a minute, @HastingsDirect, how do I know I'm not entitled? I mean, you sent me an email saying that if, as I do, pay by instalments, you'll pay not only the higher rate difference but interest, too. I mean, you even list the date I renewed!

So are you saying not only did you 'mistakenly' overcharge, but you've now mistakenly offered a refund? Are you sure you haven't made another mistake, and I should be refunded?

Forty minutes of light, sugar-coating snow this morning. The roads are just wet now.
People are driving like there are ten-foot drifts, and the road surface is like Streatham ice rink. 🤦‍♂️

We will never win another war; we're weak and feckless.
#UKSnow

𝐖𝐢𝐟𝐞: "I'm so glad you're back at work today!"
𝐌𝐞: "I'm so glad I'm back at work today!"

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿

Now that the dust has settled, #CastleCannon was incredibly underwhelmed with the final Gavin & Stacey. The cast seemed to be working extra hard to create comedy; it didn't come across naturally. The 'party' that led to Smithy oversleeping was a prime example, with the cast acting like they were having a good time rather than looking like they were having a good time. Pam (Alison Steadman) seemed wooden in her (stressed) performances, plus it didn't help that many loved characters were missing. Yeah, yeah. I know Doris is dead in real life.

Favourite bits:
Nessa - Mouth organ
Pete & Dawn
Gwen - Who's coming down the stairs?

Other than that, for me, meh.
#Shrug

Just stop for a second, put down that nice coffee you're drinking in your secure Western country and think for a minute. Russia believes Ukraine is full of terrorists; Ukraine kills one of Russia's Generals on Russian soil in a bomb attack. Doesn't that sound like a terrorist attack to you? It's undoubtedly an assassination of foreign soil. Imagine if the roles were reversed and it was a Ukrainian General blown up; I bet you'd be ranting and raving then.

telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

Ukraine-Russia war live: Moscow suspect ‘offered $100k for general Igor Kirillov assassination’

A man arrested over the killing of a senior Russian general in Moscow was offered $100,000 by Ukraine, authorities have claimed.

^{The Telegraph}

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm convinced Israel is simply taking advantage of events. I find it hard to believe that with the leading intelligence service in the world, they were unaware of the terrorist attack about to happen on their soil. It gave them, in their view, the mandate to invade and eradicate Palestine "𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯!" the opportunity to provide Lebanon with a bloody nose and with the current invasion of Syria and access to Eygipt Israel has managed to almost double its landmass without the West batting an eyelid.

Far be it from me to suggest that the UK, America, France, and a few others are lining up to restock Israel's dwindling arms
#Gaza #Lebanon #Syria #israel

amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15…

Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territory: ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza: Executive Summary - Amnesty International

This is the executive summary of the report ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza (Index: MDE 15/8668/2024).

^{Amnesty International}

So Labour's 'quick fix' of halving prisoners' sentences hasn't worked then; it just bought a bit of time. Of course, far be it from me to point out that any political party could have done that!
#politics

independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli…

UK prisons set to run out of space within seven years, says justice minister

The Ministry of Justice has announced plans for four new prisons, but Shabana Mahmood said it is ‘still not enough’

^{Millie Cooke (The Independent)}

I'm starting to change my mind about #GreggWallce. I'm now thinking this is political correctness going too far yet again, and the so-called "distress" is exaggerated for media consumption.

Jim Davidson hit the nail on the head.

𝗕𝗕𝗖: "Did he touch your bum?"
𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻: "No."
𝗕𝗕𝗖: "Did he touch your breast?"
𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻: "No."
𝗕𝗕𝗖: "What did he do?"
𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻: "Well, I'm still too traumatised to tell you; I haven't slept since he told me the joke.
Old mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to get poor Rover a bone, and when she bent over, up jumped Rover and gave her a bone of his own."
youtu.be/2HuvoIb1rsw?t=404

Jim Davidson - Gregg Wallace Is Toast!

SIGN UP TO https://ustreme.comThe Ustreme Charity Fund - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ustreme-charityfundText 'DONATE' to 66777THE SHOP - https:/...

^YouTube

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗿: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰me 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵 '𝘐𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵' 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧.

We have a local cafe and sandwich shop that was very successful, although owned by a woman who was so large she could barely walk and her husband, who wore one of those medical boots you see a lot these days. I wanted a poached egg sandwich, but every time I phoned the cafe both on a mobile and landline, it immediately cut off, so I walked down the road to the cafe, where I was presented with a guy who had one arm and a stressed-looking young girl. "𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳" I said. The guy told me they had purchased the cafe, but the original owners didn't know the passwords to the Google account, and BT are being arseholes about giving him the original number. So, no telephone orders, then?

While my poached egg was cooked, it was probably the worst, pointless sandwich I've ever had. The yoke was everywhere inside the kitchen foil. It was slightly upsetting to watch him chase the fast-moving egg around the plate with his drainer spoon in an attempt to scoop it up onto the toast.

I await the business to go up for sale or to go under. 🤷‍♂️

Yet another #Raspberrypi CM module you wont be able to buy.
#CM5

Every year, they do this. Christmas is only four weeks away, and it's an ideal gift for yourself or your geek friend. All the 'influencers' are raving about it, and yet again, it's on pre-order. Do me a favour, Pi Foundation, and announce new stuff in the spring so you can have stock on the shelves by winter.

evan@cosocial.ca
Evan Prodromou
@Evan Prodromou

PLEASE SHARE!

The Social Web Devroom at FOSDEM 2025 will be the first time the conference has a track dedicated entirely to ActivityPub servers, Fediverse clients, libraries, apps, toolkits, services, etc.

If you work on Fediverse software that is Free and Open Source, please consider submitting a proposal: pretalx.fosdem.org/fosdem-2025…

The deadline is December 1, 2024, so not much time remains. But proposals are very easy and quick!

More info:
socialwebfoundation.org/2024/1…

FOSDEM 2025 – Social Web Devroom – Call For Participation

The Social Web Foundation is pleased to announce the Social Web Devroom at FOSDEM 2025, and invite participants to submit proposals for talks for the event. FOSDEM is an exciting free and open sour…

^{Social Web Foundation}

𝗔𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲?
If you think it's OK for Israel to fire missiles at Lebanon and Iran because those countries fired rockets at Israel, then Russia has every right to fire missiles at the UK and US targets in Europe, given they fired on Russia via their proxy #Ukraine.

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62j1g…

Ukraine war: After days of escalation, what will Russia's Putin do next?

BBC Russia editor Steve Rosenberg assesses the Russian leader's next move.

^{Steve Rosenberg (BBC News)}

I thought #Labour had a magic wand to make everything better?
Inflation is on the rise. Pensioners are forced to use their life savings to keep warm, farmers are being squeezed out of business, and energy prices are on the rise.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz6jvl…

I loved the biased BBC presenter trying to put a positive spin on it by telling us that the rise isn't as high as when Ukraine was invaded, But it's getting there, you moron!
#politics

Ofgem energy price cap: Typical bill to rise in January

It means someone paying by direct debit and using a typical amount of energy will pay £21 more a year.

^{Kevin Peachey (BBC News)}

It seems that the outgoing president, Joe Biden's parting gift, will be to push Russia to the brink of war with the West, regardless of whether Putin is the aggressor in all this. Try to keep in mind the Russians are not just fighting Ukraine but twenty-six other countries as well, all of whom are supplying not only weapons but soldiers too.

Remember, children, the Russians have an ingrained devotion to their country. That's why they called WWII "The Great Patriotic War." and you thought Trump was dangerous, I'm more scared of Biden.

bbc.co.uk/news/live/c20726y20k…

Ukraine-Russia latest: Biden approves landmines for Ukraine as US steps up aid to slow Russian advances

It comes after Ukraine used US-made longer-range missiles for the first time to strike targets inside Russia.

^{BBC News}

I pray to The Pond Gods that the UK never goes to war with Russia because if the driving standards are anything to go by with a smidge of snow we've had where I live, we'll lose within forty-eight hours! It's taken me fifty-five minutes to travel seven miles on an extremely busy road.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗙𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘!

The missus and I came home after a trip to Wickes, and the kitchen fitters had slung the extractor fan out with the cooker. I lept out of the car to retrieve it quickly, and a guy in a van on the main road shouted: "I'm fooking having that!" I replied, "No, you're fooking not!" and took it in the house.

The next thing I know, the bloke had walked up my drive, through my side gate, appeared at my kitchen back door, and said to the kitchen fitter, "Your mates just took my metal." I went out and said, "It's my metal mate, and this is my house, so fook off!"

Cheeky caaant then says, "Are you ripping out the boiler?" Mate, fuck off!

Thank The Pond Gods, I've booked the next five days off!

One of the presenters made a good point on the BBC coverage of the US elections this morning. 40% of the voters in Georgia are black or Hispanic. Playing the race card didn't work, and as was pointed out, Hispanics who can vote are legally American; they are not illegal immigrants—a distinction a lot of people should take on board.