On another road trip, this time leaving Europe’s #CityOfPeace possibly permanently.
I have had two and a half years at the amazing @EU_Commission funded @HumanBrainProj, mostly helping with the effort to launch @EBRAINS_eu a research infrastructure for computational brain research which will be its legacy.
This morning as I left I visited a favourite spot near Ferney-Voltaire where Mt Blanc was fully visible for the first time in ages to say goodbye.
During this weird period of Covid I was very lucky to spend two months living under this amazing mountain in #Chamonix. One of the great homes of mountaineering and skiing.
It looks like the weather is going to be prefect for my transit across France :)
Traveling through Burgundy, at my favourite motorway stop on this trip west, fairly near to Cluny and Taize.
This stop is particularly cool because it includes a lovely old forest stop on the hill plus the view of a great castle.
Going to mix this roadtrip thread up a bit by sharing what I am listening to. First up, the @BBCSounds Friday Night Comedy show, undoubtedly the best way to keep informed about UK 🇬🇧 Politics. podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/fri…
It’s been sunny most of the way so far. But now at the half way point it looks like it’s about to get a bit wet and wild.
This bit in particular looks like it will contain some pretty serious rain, and there are several of these under the storm.
This is not normal for late May. And not is the temperature 11 degrees. Typically storms this time of year are more orderly.
Next podcast is @camanpour hosted very ably by @biannagolodryga. The @CNN global show has been leading with the Israeli Palestinian conflict since throughout the recent war. Her shows are special for directly addressing issues of reconciliation. podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/ama…
And here comes the rain.....
A thunderstorm in the distance.
The roads are now deserted..... Covid curfew came into effect 5 hours ago.
The last toll gate.... on this 1000km trip, nearly all of it on beautiful motorways, the cost of tolls is roughly the same as the fuel cost.
The amazing @crookedmedia’s latest #PodSaveTheWorld podcast, recorded before the ceasefire provides a very interesting, informed and insightful look inside a Democratic perspective on the Israel-Palestinian conundrum. podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/pod…
And home.... /ends
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This is pathetic from @realDonaldTrump he’s lashing out like an angry teenager. Jerome Powell says he’s included a the costs of a building that was completed years ago in his very public attack on the FED Chair.
Trump has completely lost the plot. The single most damaging thing that he could do to undermine confidence in the U.S. dollar (which he publicly claims to want to deflate and there by make all Americans poorer - is to attack the Federal Reserve and the SEC.
@realDonaldTrump Trump is setting fire to the dollar to distract from his Epstein mess what a complete baby.
I attended the Bonn climate talks. They were very disappointing to everyone. The elephant in the room was (of course) the U.S. decision to withdraw from the talks altogether.
Unfortunately.. perhaps intentionally in advance of the continuation of climate talks regardless of #US_Disintigration the talks were also very sparsely attended particularly by activists and NGOs. The reason for this was @elonmusk destroying @-USAID.
@elonmusk As you can see the USAID Twitter account is now dead - deleted which is an appalling act of vandalism executed by Elon and his tech-bro team of teenagers.
This article is deeply depressing. For my part at Scoop.co.nz it is clear to me that:
1. The Govt has a deliberate strategy - probably not official but nevertheless operative to destroy NZ media. 2. This is not going to change any time soon. thespinoff.co.nz/politics/02-07…
& Sadly from what I discerned last year the @nzlabour opposition is both apathetic and indifferent to the plight of media. Also the @NZGreens. And have always been so for as long as I can remember.
This is extremely disappointing
@nzlabour @NZGreens I will be returning to NZ in August to ensure continues to function in these very difficult times for NZ media. We have faced numerous big challenges recently and thank our supporters and readers for their support.Scoop.co.nz
Ok so this is a bit weird, but in a kinda chill way so do bare with me and and I will be happy to answer questions afterwards. It’s about a castle on a virtual island in a massive online role playing game called Evony and it involves a possible but speculative discussion about @elonmusk and @X.
All will be revealed but first a picture or four actually from the game. More will come.
Ok. So here’s what I think is going on in a nutshell. I think elonmusk has invested in a MMORPG: a “Massive Multimedia Online Role Playing Game” which is a bit of a mouthful, called EVONY.
I liked its Twitter ads and finally clicked. It’s huge. Someone else can do the business story here which I am sure is interesting too.
But the this bit is weird.
The mysterious knight on the red horse arrived this morning beside my castle and he had some treasure.
I hadn’t a clue who it was so I grabbed the treasure and tried to kill the horse and rider as that’s what you do. But we got smashed badly.
This interview with working class Uk financial markets savant Gary Stevenson - who has just published an autobiography - is seriously terrifying. He now has a @YouTube channel it seems and I’ll post a link shortly.
James O'Brien meets Gary Stevenson | LBC via @YouTube
His prognosis for the collapse of social democratic nation state finances due to the very sharp rise in income distribution inequality in the UK is horrific.
The consequences of unfettered transfers of money over decades due to neoliberal economics initially and more recently quantitative easing driven transfers of wealth from the middle class to the top 5% of the population is the cause of his concern.
It’s very hard to imagine what can be done politically to rebalance this.
Thomas Piketty’s thesis which among other things warned about all of this based on long term historical analysis of wealth inequality appears to be colliding with Western Civilisation in a manner that threatens the very foundations of that civilisation.
Gary’s YouTube channel which addresses all this is here.