Julian Bond 🍸 @jbond@mastodon.cloud

Just a note: I've moved to @jbond@mastodon.social This account at .cloud is a backup.

We just had an event that felt like the Fail Whale. Mastodon.cloud went down and my backup .social was down as well. The federation kept going, but my experience didn't until I managed to start another account.

Which makes me wonder,
- How many backup accounts do you need?
- Can you automate keeping their follow-block-mute lists in sync?
- Which instance is best for virtually 100% up time with 24-7 sysadmin cover?
- How do people feel about being followed 3 times by the same person?

When does Elon Musk over-reach himself or get found out?

Are we back again?

The leader of the party is destroying the country's future for the sake of keeping a couple of dozen eurosceptic MPs quiet, whose betrayal could bring the party down. Making Brexit official policy when they personally voted Remain and campaigned for Remain before the referendum.

Just like May, Corbyn really should consider what's best for the country, not what will get him power.

The two most over-used words in movie and TV dialogue.

"Come on"

Need some inspiration for the Friday Night Cocktail. Anyone?

Perhaps I should open the Savoy Cocktail book at a random page and stick a pin in. Risky!

Brexit again. Today's response to the petition for a referendum once the terms of leaving are known is a fine example of Vogon poetry.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200004?reveal_response=yes

One of those stories that make you go WTF?

5 days after Maria hit, the White House had no plan for Puerto Rico. None. Zilch. Nothing. Nada.

https://twitter.com/AynRandPaulRyan/status/913426909282713600

Did Mar-a-Lago survive Irma?

And thank you for (indirectly) giving a job to Robert Anton Wilson and Bob Shea that gave them plenty of free time and freedom to exercise their creativity.

So farewell then, Hugh Hefner. Thanks for all the mammaries.
Your real effect on history has been air-brushed out.

But then I only ever read the magazine for the articles.

2Kg of sloes picked and cleaned. The plan is to freeze them for a day or two. Then make up two mason jars with 700g of sloes and one bottle of 70cl gin in each. We'll decant and filter one this year for xmas and one next year. The final liquor will have some 2:1 sugar syrup added to taste. Probably at about 4:1 gin - syrup.

Autumn Nature notes:

A young fox emerges from the pumping station across the street, runs up the pavement by our house, narrowly avoids being run over and then runs up into somebody's garden.

A squirrel runs along our fence and then hides in the ivy. I get to stare into it's eyes from no more than 2 feet away. It's all like, "yeah, so? Do I look bothered?". With a bit of prodding it escapes to the middle of the holly bush and then away across the garage roof.

The garden spiders are huge.

Is Jon Lansman (founder-leader of Momentum) pro-Brexit or anti? Did he vote Leave or Remain? Does he now believe we should go or stay in the EU?

I think we should be told.

Petition to support Uber in London faked! Just like their driver and user numbers. Not exactly a surprise, is it.

https://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/uber-fake-petition-busted.html

Some stories that have pretty much dropped out of the media cycle.
- Houston
- Florida
- Non-Puerto Rico Caribbean islands.
- S Asia flooding. Especially Bangla Desh, Bihar and Nepal.
- Myanmar and Rohingya

Still just in play,
- Puerto Rico
- Mexico
- Bali

Where is Laura Kuenssberg's body guard? Everyone is talking about him, but nobody's actually seen him. An invisible Ninja?

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2017/09/manufactured-smears-establishment/

Criticism of Israel is not anti-semitism.

Criticism of Laura Kuenssberg and other female journalists is not misogyny or abuse.

Criticism of female politicians is not misogyny or abuse.

Anti-semitism, misogyny and abuse of people in the public arena does exist and should rightly be disavowed. But reasoned and intelligent criticism of the same should not automatically be evidence of abuse.