iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mamdani is the mayor of NYC, not the mayor of the state of New York. He has no direct power to change state policy, although I'm sure he's trying to have those conversations where he can! I'm sorry you're having such a hard time, but Mamdani isn't the person responsible for your troubles.

Yeah it's easy to dismiss it as "slick marketing" but the reason it's so good is that him and the people he works with are intelligent, empathetic, creative & classy. While a lot of the stuff Trump puts out feels like it's created by a particularly unpleasant 12 year old boy.

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I think it was intended to be a joke pointing out how silly it is that some people keep calling him a communist when he's clearly happy to support small businesses and healthy commercial interests.

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To clarify, the bit I said at the beginning about only doing so if we feel capable is important. There's no point trying to talk to people if you know you won't be able to stay calm and rational, or if you know it will be harmful to your own mental health. But if you can handle it it's worth trying!

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I don't think changing their mind is necessarily the goal, it's just an added bonus. It's still a win if all you do is learn why they believe what they do, or if they argue back & force you to hone your own arguments! But now & then you have these conversations that give you some hope for humanity.

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I was honestly kind of shocked as I didn't really expect her to take what I said on board, I thought she'd probably just respond with insults or misinformation as many do, but she actually listened & changed her mind! And I hope went away feeling a bit more positive about "lefties"!

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I chose to see her humanity and directly addressed her fears and misunderstandings with empathy, and she replied to say that I'd really put her mind at rest & helped her see things from a different perspective, & that she was grateful to me for taking the time to actually talk to her respectfully!

I even had a recent online interaction where one thanked me for helping her see things differently. She was spouting the usual anti-Muslim talking points about Sharia Law, & everyone in the comments understandably laid into her. I was tempted to do the same but opted to try a different approach.

I'm in the UK where we have our own version of MAGA - people who support parties like Reform & Restore, go to "Unite the Kingdom" rallies, hang flags. I've had conversations with people like that, and while it often doesn't go well you occasionally find one who is willing to engage in good faith.

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Ann Kempster @annkempster.com · 30/07/2026

I disagree. If we feel capable of doing so without getting "triggered", it's good to try to have conversations even with people we very strongly disagree with. Probably not those at the real extremes who aren't capable of engaging in such a conversation, but those who are willing to talk.

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Reposted by Saskia HM

This. Run them side by side with images of the the wildfires across the UK. The dead fields. Farmers having to dip into their winter feeds in the middle of summer. A running tally of excess deaths due to heat.

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Saskia HM @saskiahm.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I've read multiple comments by you stating that there's other actions that could be taken, but I haven't seen you state what those alternative actions might be (although there's a lot of replies so it's possible I've missed that!).

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Potassium? Do you mean vitamin K? K is the chemical symbol for potassium but vitamin K is C₃₁H₄₆O₂ Although I agree it's tragic that some refuse it! At the time my youngest was born I was exposed to antivax rhetoric & almost considered not giving it but thankfully I looked properly at the evidence!

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I even dabbled in vaccine scepticism myself briefly over a decade ago because of some of the opinions I was exposed to, but thankfully because I actually understand science it didn't take long for me to put my mind at rest once I delved into the evidence!

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I wouldn't be so sure, it's not just right wing conspiracy nuts who are anti vax! As someone who has spent a lot of time in "crunchy parent" circles I've come across plenty of people on the left who are anti vax or at least somewhat suspicious of vaccines!

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Sean @stholeary.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

And that's why most countries no longer use it, and it's reserved for use in places where polio is still a problem and where a cheap & easily distributed vaccine is needed, because the risks of using the vaccine are lower than the risks of not vaccinating in those places.

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Reposted by Saskia HM

Finally figured out FIFA's true angle with Trump & wow does it suck. "FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to create a $20 billion company running the World Cup with private investors including the Kushner family."

espn.com

UEFA blasts FIFA proposal to allow for $10B in World Cup private investment

UEFA has rejected a reported FIFA proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors as a "line that football's governing institutions should never cross" and that the World Cup is "not FIFA's to sell."

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I've seen this first hand as the mother of kids aged between 14-25, my eldest 2 have both had a lot of difficulty getting a job. Nobody seems to want to employ someone with no experience, but it's hard to get the experience without a job.

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David Colquhoun @davidcolquhoun.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Andy Burnham's proposals to help young people into work & provide more opportunities in technical education sound promising, but what about NEETs who need help right now? There's a cohort of young people whose lives were blighted by COVID who are emerging into the job market & really struggling.

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Reposted by Saskia HM

"Nigel Farage’s criminal funder runs a Montenegro company whose corporate advisors work for a Belgrade Russian-arms dealer and individuals tied to Russian state-linked enterprises" bylinetimes.com/2026/07/27/h...

bylinetimes.com

How George Cottrell’s Reform UK Network in Montenegro Is Tied to Sanctioned Russian Oligarchs

Nigel Farage's criminal funder runs a Montenegro company whose corporate advisors work for a Belgrade Russian-arms dealer and individuals tied to Russian state-linked enterprises

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Saskia HM @saskiahm.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

FB is harder to leave because many of us have more "real life" personal connections on there. I recently found out an old friend had died via FB, if I wasn't on there I'd never have known, and wouldn't have been able to attend his funeral. I do use it much less often now, though.

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Saskia HM @saskiahm.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

UK citizen here, yes I think our government health advice can generally be trusted. There's a few areas where it gets a bit more ideological (e.g. trans healthcare), & sometimes cost influences the medical advice (though mostly this is positive as there is a financial incentive to keep us healthy!).

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Saskia HM @saskiahm.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

It's not lazy, we're still in Europe, just not the EU (sadly)!

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To be fair, probably. But I think that's supposed to be part of his appeal, he's not some sophisticated cosmopolitan aesthete or cutting edge hipster, he's meant to be a "man of the people", & sadly many of the people have very bad taste. There's a reason "live laugh love" type tat sells so well.

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Trying out Gboard again but I seem to recall last time I tried it there was some reason I went back to Samsung. Possibly that you can't customise the symbols that pop up when you hold the full stop key, which seems minor but got annoying! Any other good keyboard apps anyone would recommend?

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Samsung keyboard can go duck itself.

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Saskia HM @saskiahm.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

My autocorrect is gaslighting me. It makes me say things I don't mean to say, denies the existence of ordinary words (ironically, "ordinary" being the most recent example! Kept insisting there was no such word & I meant ordinarily), replaces the perfectly normal & common word I wrote with another...

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To be fair the chair was a gift when he left his job as mayor, so he presumably had no say in the design!

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Obviously we all hope for more than that from our politicians, but given how bad so many politicians all over the world are, just making the little day-to-day things a little bit less shit feels like a win!

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Even if all he ever manages to do is change these little things, and at least doesn't make anything else significantly worse people will still feel the benefit. It's easy to underestimate how the little frustrations can add up in people's lives, stuff like bus fares and potholes wear people down.

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Ooh I bet Trump hates those "windmills"!

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And we can all imagine just how bad that movie will be.

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A sub Saharan Black man would be no more "wrong" than the white men who usually play Jesus!

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To be fair, the Ancient Greeks presumably also had short/affectionate/informal names for mothers and fathers, and given they're speaking English in the film they'll use the modern English equivalent.

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Also the "organised looking" signage is a London thing too, outside London many homeless don't even have signs, never mind suspiciously similar ones.

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Most right wingers aren't thinking of London when they're talking about rough sleeping, though. In other parts of the country the majority of the visible homeless are white British.