Musings of an (un)certain computer addict. @19-cilmaengwyn - Tumblr Blog

On this day, 5 July 1948, the UK National Health Service (NHS) was founded, on the principle that medical treatment should be provided according to need rather than the ability to pay. The idea for the NHS was not the result of individual enlightenment, but of working-class self-organisation. The inspiration for the NHS came from the Tredegar Workmen’s Medical Aid Society in South Wales, where coal miners and steelworkers paid in a small weekly subscription. By the start of World War II, 95% of Tredegar was covered by the society. Philip Prosser was born with club foot and received treatment as a result of his father's membership of the Society. He recounted: "I was taken to one of the top orthopaedic doctors in Wales and that was the start of my treatment for quite a few years. When the NHS came in in 1948, I was transferred over. It was exactly the same as the NHS in 1948. We already had it in Tredegar before that." During World War II, to motivate millions of people to sacrifice and dedicate themselves to the war effort, the government promised reforms to benefit working-class people after the war was over. Conservative MP Quentin Hogg had warned Parliament that "if you do not give the people social reform, they are going to give you social revolution." Sure enough, after the war ended, servicemen returning home, and others, began demanding better conditions, backing it up with direct action, like a huge wave of squatting. The NHS was part of a package of reforms introduced following the conflict to ensure social peace. But almost right away, it came under attack. Legislation to bring in prescription charges was introduced by the Labour Party in 1949. Then fees for dental treatments were introduced, and since then the free, socialised service has been under attack from successive governments who have gradually introduced more charges, marketisation and privatisation. Meanwhile, health workers, patients and local communities have continuously fought to defend it. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10531/foundation-of-the-nhs

hearthfire-heartfire

Reflection. The so-called “United States” is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 2026. We,...

”The so-called “United States” is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 2026. We, the first people of this land, do not have to look far to spot the hypocrisy of celebrating a document that calls our ancestors “Merciless Indian Savages.” Today, we witness a country that proclaims “freedom” while kidnapping our immigrant neighbors without due process, passing laws that encourage harassment and discrimination against our LGBTQ and two-spirit relatives, and pulling out every political, legal, and military strategy to suppress any form of dissent against the state. At the start of this nation, the government ratified over 350 treaties with Native Nations – and then proceeded to break every single one of them. Just as it was clear to our ancestors, it remains clear to us now: this colonial experiment has failed at building anything resembling a true democracy.”

an-ruraiocht

like did you know that trees lower the surface temperature by up to 19° and grass by up to 24°... access to green space is access to safety in a climate crisis and it is a massive site of inequality because poorer areas tend to have less green space and thus get hotter. urban trees are an equality issue as well as a climate issue. sorry it's not a magic bullet that solves everything but sometimes you need to pick an issue that helps a bit and focus on that. this might not be yours. it's likely going to be mine in the future when my health issues allow me to take it on. if we each pick a thing we can make a difference

an-ruraiocht

#I forgot about Fahrenheit for a moment

what does fahrenheit have to do with anything, i took these figures from an article that gave its figures in celsius (although i now can't find the article again, that's on me not citing my sources cos i was just talking to myself), but here's a scientific article stating the same figures:

The process of urbanisation alters the thermal balance of an area resulting in an urban heat island effect where cities can be several degrees centigrade warmer than the surrounding rural landscape. This increased heat can make cities uncomfortable places and, during heat waves, can pose serious health risks. This study looked at the role that trees and grass can play in reducing regional and local temperatures in urban areas during the summer within the urban landscape of Manchester, UK. In June and July 2009 and 2010, we monitored the surface temperatures of small plots composed of concrete and grass in the presence or absence of tree shading, and measured globe temperatures above each of the surfaces. The same measures were also recorded at mid-day on larger expanses of asphalt and grass in an urban park. Both surface and shade greatly affected surface temperatures. Grass reduced maximum surface temperatures by up to 24 °C, similar to model predictions, while tree shade reduced them by up to 19 °C.

this is about surface/ground temperature rather than air temperature, if those figures seem high to you: the woodland trust notes that

"However, in a study from Manchester, shade from street trees reduced surface temperatures by an average of 12°C and concrete surfaces shaded permanently by a bank of trees were cooled by up to 20°C in the summer (Armson et al. 2013), although these had no effect on air temperatures." [source]

elsewhere on their website they also reference research in cardiff showing that surfaces in direct sunlight are about 20C higher than surfaces in shade

you might think that that means they don't help in a heatwave, if it's not the air temperature that's impacted, but one thing i really noticed in this one was the impact of the bricks of my flat absorbing heat from direct sunlight during the day -- at night, although air temperatures had cooled, the bricks were still radiating heat like an oven. however, the wall that is shaded by a tree did not absorb as much heat, because it did not get direct sunlight, and therefore that part of the flat did not have this heating effect at night

this is one way that trees can help mitigate the heat impacts of concrete and other built-up surfaces! even where they don't directly cool the air in the moment, they can prevent the surface heating that causes further heating after air temperatures drop. also, of course, it is dangerous to walk or rest on hot surfaces, and this disproportionately affects vulnerable people, like children (closer to the ground, using play equipment etc) or rough sleepers. last week, pavements in london reached 57 degrees celsius. in one place it was 65C!! [source]. this is something that trees can mitigate

sexhaver

i think about this a lot

soulren

One single spider has been descending from a very long thread all the way from the moon and will very soon, we hope, carefully touch down on earth.

archatlas

Musée Miniature & Cinéma

Before special effects went digital with CGI, part of the magic of movie making included artists laboring over tiny scaled-down sets, creating little worlds that look totally real until a normal-sized human hand appears in the scene. One museum in France lets visitors explore over 100 such sets, each standing out for its incredible realism. At Musée Miniature & Cinéma in Lyon, you can gaze upon these miniatures as well as a collection of over 300 full-scale movie props.

Images and text via

atlanticselkie

Types of Butches, as shown through the Muppets

tubapun

Everybody was Sun Tzu Fighting (Riff Designed to Piss Off Your Enemies of Choleric Temperament)

tubapun

Visit Original Link

archaeologistproblems

Archaeologist problems: when the Newfoundland and Labrador Government and Provincial Archaeology Office (PAO) go hard-line on erasing Innu history for years, to the bafflement of basically every archaeologist outside the PAO, and it’s hitting the headlines hard this month:

Innu Cultural Guardian Jodie Ashini says she thought National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21, would be the perfect day to open the Innu Pak

For the record, as far as I can tell every other rational archaeologist (including me) thinks this is pretty fucked up:

A letter signed by eight anthropologists and archaeologists at Memorial University expresses support for Innu in the ongoing dispute with th

iplaywithstring

Loring questioned the reason for the government's approach to date. "It's about minerals, power. It's about NATO low-level flying. Government wants control over land that is ancestral Innu land, belongs to the Innu, and so by denying their land claim based on this spurious historical misinterpretation- that's the dark side. And whether that's true or not I don't know. But it certainly has that appearance," he said.

archaeologistproblems

If so, the PAO has been instructed on this for a while. I distinctly remember a PAO archaeologist making a flat statement about “lack of evidence” during the question period at an archaeology conference a few years ago, and there was a stunned silence from the rest of us.

sillysiluriforme

This week im seeing colors on heat maps I’ve never even considered before

sillysiluriforme

Evil fuck you purple heat storm over France

trashlord-watson

To the people who might go "yeah well that's a regular summer in [insert country or region]", I would like to point out the obvious that France (and other European countries curently suffering) is not these countries used to such heat for such mong periods of time.

Yes, it is finally summer, and yes, it's supposed to be hot too here. Except our hot temperatures are still way below that. The average temperatures at that period between 1991-2020 are 15-20°C below what we're experiencing. It's 41°C in Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, when it should be about 25, 42°C in Rennes when it should be 22.

On Tuesday 23rd, France was hotter than 99% of the planet. Only some specific zones in the Sahara, Arabian, and American deserts were hotter.

In the night between Monday and Tuesday, temperatures only came back down to between 21 and 28 degrees. Those are supposed to be the temps at day.

About A/C: it's true, most of the country doesn't have it. Some public transportation, supermarkets, restaurants have it, and some individual houses too. But that's about it. Because we didn't really need it until a few years ago, and it's both hard and expensive to get it installed, especially in older buildings like those in Paris. But also, you've got to understand that if A/C makes your life easier inside, it considerably worsens things outside. The heat generates by A/C would up the termps a few degrees more, and would not fix the issue of going outside.

jaffre

(direct link)

vixvigil

it’s never a normal temperature anymore it’s always some fucking bullshit

teaboot

Not to be rhe ten millionth person to say “USAmerican President Donald Trump Is An Incoherent Public Speaker Whose Train Of Thought Can Be Best Described As Scat Jazz” but I just remembered that when he talks at international events it is several dozen people’s job to translate what he’s saying and what he intends to say to world leaders in real time

And I desperately wish to hear how they do it

teaboot

If anyone reading this isn’t fluent enough in English to understand the sentences that man says, please know that he has essentially mixed a number of adjectives and topics together in a hat and is pulling them out at random like a horrible children’s game

teaboot

Like that waxy jaundiced bitch will straight up be like “J'étais sur internet l'autre jour – internet, la plus grande invention américaine. Et la Chine a “internet aussi. Pas un bon internet, pas comme le mien, j'ai un internet formidable. Les gens me disent : « Donald, ton internet est génial ! » On adore l'internet de Donald. Mais la Chine… Chine, Chine, Chine… Vous savez qu'ils mangent des oiseaux ? C'est terrible. J'adore les oiseaux. La Chine mange des oiseaux. Pas comme nous. Pas comme mes oiseaux. Mais vous savez, c'est comme ça, et c'est terrible. Mais voilà ce que je vais faire : je vais sauver les oiseaux. Je vais sauver internet et sauver les oiseaux. Tous ces magnifiques oiseaux. Pour l'Amérique. Et la Chine va nous détester pour ça. Ils vont nous détester parce qu'on est les meilleurs sur oiseaux”. And people will lose their minds

angryraptor13

International translators have had this problem for A While - if they *don't* clean up what he says to sound coherent, they look like they're doing a bad job.

Explore Trump translation challenges, tips for interpreters, and 2025 strategies for accurate political translation and Trumpslation success

teaboot

oh my god

freckles-a-constellation

There was a scandal in Poland because one translator decided to translate him accurately, tone, vocabulary level and word salad tangents and all. Polish conservatives who don't speak English and previously only heard smoothed out translations that sounded coherent and used big words were up in arms about how the translator was "inserting her political agenda", "mocking him", "exaggerating", "purposefully trying to make him look bad" and "incredibly unprofessional". I listened to the translation in question. It was literally just accurate.

kimbureh

5. Sensitive and Controversial Language Trump’s speeches occasionally contain misogynistic, sexist, or inflammatory language. Japanese interpreter Tsuruta, for example, faced challenges when translating sexualized remarks, ultimately opting for standard terminology to maintain professionalism. Similarly, Chinese translator Kumiko Torikai found certain lewd expressions ethically challenging, ultimately leading to her retirement. Navigating these situations requires skillful balancing of accuracy, professionalism, and cultural sensitivity, ensuring that the translation is appropriate without distorting the original intent.

I don't know why the authors of PoliLingua act as if Trump's verbal misogyny and racism wasn't very much part of his "original intent".

it only now dawns on me that millions of people on this planet think Trump is way smarter than he is because translators have neglected to relate his violent speech accurately out of misunderstood politeness. Make the ape sound like a ape

kosmogrl

we talk about doing it scared and doing it alone but what about doing it uninterested

teaboot

I think that if you had enough daughters AND played your cards right you could spring Mambo Number Five out at the EXACT right gathering and shatter your entire family's trust forever

teaboot

The secret is to name them out of order with the lyrics so by the time anyone catches on it's too late

teaboot

For me personally the ideal gathering would be my funeral

teaboot

A little bit for Monica, she's my wife

A little bit for Erica, for her strife

My books all go to Rita, cause she reads

My greenhouse goes to Tina, she plants trees

The furniture is Sandra's, on my lawn

Jewelry for Mary, she can pawn

Ashes go to Jessica, that's my plan

A little bit of me inside a can (ah!)

hunterinabrowncoat

not even two years after the 2024 racist riots and attempted pogroms, we are back to more racist riots and attempted pogroms.

a mosque in scotland had to be put into lockdown. they are going door-to-door with hit lists and addresses in northern ireland, setting houses alight. they firebombed an imam's house in manchester. people of colour are being targeted and attacked by racist mobs in the street in broad daylight.

and instead of widespread condemnation or wall-to-wall coverage, the UK media and political establishment is filling air time talking about the "legitimate concerns" people have about "illegal migrants"

pilferedinstagram

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Musings of an (un)certain computer addict.