Sensitive content Reveal/hide

I share a lot of @timbray’s feelings here. (He doesn’t mention training data sourcing, but that’s on my mind too.)

There’s a layer of ethics and social impact that hangs, as Tim put it, as a stench over all the thinking about whether and how the tech is useful. I am actually willing to discuss the utility questions, but they are secondary.
cosocial.ca/@timbray/114807889…

So by now I assume you've heard that the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has issued a 72-hour strike notice, effective tomorrow. Our posties could walk out in the morning, if Canada Post doesn't lock them out, like they did last Christmas.

Keep in mind that our postal workers have been fighting to keep postal services accessible to all. When they gave strike notice last Christmas, they proposed a rolling strike which would not have disrupted services. Canada Post responded with a lockout, which shut the whole operation down. Our posties went on to volunteer their time to ensure vital government assistance cheques were still delivered - for free. Our government responded by ending the strike with a Back to Work order, extending the current contract to May 22, 2025 (today), taking away the postal worker's position of leverage over the Christmas season.

Looking over the current offers on the table, Canada Post is dead set on increasing workload and occupational hazards, while resisting an increase in pay that comes close to making up for inflation and cost of living increases over the course of the last contract, while suspending benefits and hiring out part-time staff over the stability of full-time positions, demanding two-tiered wages so that newer employees can be paid even less.

cupw.ca/en/cupw-receives-globa…

Now I've heard a lot of talk about "Canada Post should operate like UPS/FedEx/Purolator" (the latter of which is owned by Canada Post, I might add). This is based on a gross misconception that Canada Post fails to be profitable because of mismanagement or waste. That is not the case. What makes Canada Post different than the others is a guarantee of coverage and accessibility, which they have taken on as a crown corporation. This is why Canada Post loses its profitability, because of guaranteed service which private operations (including Purolator) do not have to abide by.

Canada Post is a national service and SHOULD be nationally funded.

When people say that "Canada Post should operate like a business", I don't think they realize what that means. It means that rural locations should not be allowed access to parcel delivery, period. It means that seniors should have no access to mail delivery that they can pick up themselves. It means that if servicing your area is not profitable, you don't get mail. Period.

My union conducts business all over Alberta, with locals in the big municipalities of Edmonton and Calgary, as well as locals in smaller communities all across the province. When Canada Post was shut down last Christmas, that meant that we had to switch to Purolator (FedEx has crossed strike lines and are not an option). That meant that we could not deliver to any of our locals in more rural communities. That meant that the only way they got mail was from a union member or staffer PERSONALLY delivering it to them.

This, on a permanent and national level, is what it would mean for Canada Post to "run like a business". No, that is not the answer. The answer is publicly funding Canada Post, and/or implementing solutions which the CUPW have proposed, such as implementing a postal banking system used in a number of other countries throughout the world.

The only answer that Canada Post corporate can come up with? Cut services until profit margins appear.

Stand with CUPW and our postal workers, and save our national postal service.

#cdnpoli #abpoli #onpoli #solidarity #union #unionstrong #labour #canadapost

CUPW Receives Global Offers

Today, May 21, our negotiation committees received global offers from Canada Post for both the Urban Postal Operation (UPO) and the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMCs) bargaining units.

^CUPW

American Republicans: “We’ll slash funding to the National Weather Service because they are a bunch of fearmongering socialists who believe in climate change”.

Also American Republicans: “Why didn’t the National Weather Service warn us that the rain over Texas would have been this bad?”.

A reminder that these are the same folks who, during the 2021 Texas blizzard, when people literally froze to death in their homes, took a private flight and escaped to Cancun to sip mojito on the beach instead of coordinating the emergency response.

How can anyone still expect them to do anything other than the only thing they can do - find scapegoats, blame and point fingers, so they can escape accountability a little bit longer?

crooksandliars.com/2025/07/tx-…

VOLUNTARY EVACUATION ORDER in North Carolina near Lake Michael Dam, possibility of DAM failure.

WEA: "VOLUNTARY EVACUATION ORDER due to the possibility of Lake Michael Dam failure. At this time this is a VOLUNTARY EVACUATION ORDER for areas downstream of Lake Michael Dam, including Retriever Ln, Lake Michael Way, and Broad Oak Dr. If you are evacuating, the Mebane Arts Center is open and available for evacuees."

#NCwx #evacuation #flooding #Mebane

Quick update on my aunt.

She continues to decline cognitively and will "sundown" significantly without meds to help with it (some days even with the meds).

She continues to ask me (sometimes a few times a day), when the hearse will be coming to pick her up.

I believe she is ready to go, but as we have discussed, she is frustrated that after having a life where she controlled every event, now she can't control this final one.

But she has made it clear that she has made her peace with God.

Happy Monday from Japan!

On a backstreet in Koenji, Tokyo, even the narrowest of spaces is put to good use in order to hang the day's laundry out to dry.

#filmphotography
📷 Mamiya 6, 50mm f/4
🎞️ Kodak Portra 400

#photography #streetphotography #fotografie #tokyolife #japanlife #japan #tokyo #koenji #mediumformat #mamiya #photographersofmastodon

The elections won't fucking save you, you liberal hacks!

Nazis don't respect elections.

A Visualization of the History of Technology: 1,889 Innovations Across Three Million Years

openculture.com/2025/06/a-visu…

We are all Palestine Action.

I support Palestine Action.

We have a moral obligation to dismantle the tools of war and stop genocide. Weapons industries are a root infrastructure of mass killing.

Stop all the clocks and lock up your grannies.

That's right....... It is my TWO YEAR Beigeiversary!

Finally this means I'm allowed to be involved in some of @theropologist's sexier rituals. Made it to Actualisation Level 3, baby! Sadly it means I have to say goodbye to one of the children in a votive offering to @LRRR, but hey that's why we made spares!

Just want to take this moment once again to thank everyone on the instance who makes it what it is, and Kris in particular who created not only a safe haven for the weirdest band of misfits you ever did see, but a space to breathe and thrive. It is appreciated and I love my weird online fam. I'm not just saying that. I want to be in a consensual physical relationship with all of you. JOKE (or is it.......(yes it is - we can just play badminton or touch butts or whatever)). X

And you just wait to see what I've got in store for this new beige year. We're talking a gritty reimagining. We feel that our audience has matured with us and so we can now explore some of the darker aspects of this character. Expect gore, swearing and adult themes. You might see a buttock and someone might say fuck. We deal with subjects like loss and grief when we see our titular hero come to terms with their own mortality. Will there be love? Will there be salvation? Find out next week on....... The Ben Show. X

🎧 Mood.

"Space Cowboy"
Jamiroquai (1994)

#EddieFM #Music #UK

youtube.com/watch?v=IV8ujbsIJg…

Jamiroquai - Space Cowboy (Classic Radio) [Audio]

Jamiroquai - Space Cowboy (Classic Radio) [Audio]Listen on Spotify http://smarturl.it/JamiroHT_SpotifyBuy on iTunes http://smarturl.it/Jamiroquai_HTSAmazon h...

^YouTube

My Dad is suffering from kidney problems & is in urgent need of medical care & surgery. However, due to the lack of medical equipment in Gaza,his operation has been delayed. With borders closed and travel restricted, we used donations to buy food,water, & medicine

Now, there is a chance for him to travel for treatment.

The coordination cost per person is $5,000.

Help us reach our goal of $31,000 to get my Dad out of Gaza & complete his treatment before it's too late.
gofund.me/b485f196

host site dedicated to watching people commit suicide
remove all trans suicides because twitter laughed
win?

​​

A free and democratic country doesn't build a militarized force to conduct ethnic cleansing. It doesn't make plans to remove citizens deemed unworthy. It doesn't seize their property, put them in camps, or call to exterminate them.

But all of this is happening in the US today.

❤️‍🔥 Maja im Hungerstreik - Tag 32 - Haftkrankenhaus und drohende Zwangsbehandlungen - Gespräch mit dem Solidaritätskomitee

👂🏽Interview mit dem Solidaritätskomitee a-dresden.org/2025/07/06/maja-…

Aktuelle News auf: basc.news/#maja
Instagram: @free.maja

#Maja #FreeMaja #bringtmajazurück #Budapest #budapestkomplex #Hungerstreik

Swimming is still free.

#ocean #swim #MerewetherBaths #NewcastleNSW #NewcastleAU

🇦🇺 Australia: Cancer rates in Australians under 50 are rising at a pace that's alarming doctors and scientists.

"Australians aged in their 30s and 40s are experiencing unprecedented and in some cases world-leading rates of at least 10 different types of cancer — and scientists are desperate to understand why."

Source: abc.net.au/news/2025-07-07/can…

@auscovid19

ABC News

ABC News provides the latest news and headlines in Australia and around the world.

^{Norman Swan (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)}

Sensitive content Reveal/hide

#nsfw #barelife #nude #naked #nudist #naturist #nudism #naturism #getnaked #staynaked #chillnaked #fkk #normalisenudity #nudistworld #naturistworld #casualnudity #normalstuffnaked #nudefreedom #nudistfreedom #bodyfreedom #nudistlifestyle #clothesfree #nakedactivities #nakedisnormal #normalisingnaturism #newd #nekked #nakey #nuditea

My village only posts important information on Facebook. I don't have a Facebook account.

Many US government offices and departments, esp on the local level, only post official messages on proprietary social media platforms like Twitter X and esp, Facebook. That is the only place they post, not even on their websites.

In times of emergencies or critical events, this means people not on those platforms miss out.

We need a strong law in the US that says if a gov office, federal, state or local, posts info to the public primarily online, they must do so in an open fashion. Alternatives could be adding RSS, cross-posting to their website, etc.

Locking citizens out because they choose not to use a platform is bad.

Though I support the BBB, once again I will not be the beneficiary of the tax cuts, no taxes, etc. due to my current income.

However, I am not bitter because I know that this is the beginning of rebuilding the working class and I am looking forward to watching the younger generation get to keep more and more of their earnings so they can build wealth for their families.