[–] 10 points 1 day ago* (1 child)

That abundance should be used to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel energy and decarbonise. Instead with every Watt gained it's being assigned to a new, unnecessary, purpose.

We should be seeing our energy bills drastically reduce, and they're not.

This documentary by activist and writer Peter Gelderloos explains why using our additional energy production on new projects instead of current projects is detrimental to society and the climate quite well.

https://kolektiva.media/w/iY2SJKKXcUkBMPPxXngAGT

As for the empty space argument:

We should be increasing biodiversity to tackle the man made desert that is the Highlands, not tarring it over to create wealth for a handful of capitalist billionaires.

https://youtu.be/c0ygPXQ1nNM

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  • [–] 11 points 1 day ago

    Mr Melson is a bought and paid for stooge who speaks utter shite.

    The STV are clearly bias towards his side with that headline as well considering the rest of the expert testimony. Shameful.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

    But they were all of them deceived, for another force was formed. In the land of London, in the bowels of Thames House. The Dark Lord Capitalism forged, in secret, a master force to control all others. And into this force they poured their cruelty, their malice, and their will to dominate all life. One force to rule them all.

    One by one, the Free Lands of the United Kingdom fell to the power of Capitalism. But there were some who resisted. A last alliance of Irish, Scots, and Welsh marched against the armies of London. And on the slopes of Cardiff, they fought for the freedom of the United Kingdom.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago

    The Greens Leadership Are Gearing Up for a Fight Over The Main Thing That Is Winning Them Popular Support, So They Can End Up Like All The Other Wanker Captured Useless Parties

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  • [–] 6 points 2 days ago

    Hmm... Why would the covert device which is always connected to the world's foremost fascism supporting and privacy violating corporation, which has no qualms about fake sexualised videos, be viewed as problematic to society?

    You're putting forward the idea that the perv glasses are about individual autonomy but the reality is they're an extension of Meta's apparatus, not the individual's. Meta will side with the pigs in any legal dispute and your recordings may just magically disappear.

    The right to privacy isn't a cut and dry idea and the technology to violate it obviously exists. But that doesn't mean we need to roll over and accept any and all violations of privacy, normalise it, and especially chilling allow the viewing and manipulation of any and all recordings by a single central authority.

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  • [–] 51 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    B and C are ruled out by virtue of your dog is always bester than someone else's dog. They're good dogs, but yours is bester.

    That leaves A and D. Presumably however this is an adult playing meaning childhood dog is no longer alive. Meaning that dog was the best but not is the best. Therefore the answer is D.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 days ago

    Leader of flag campaign pleads not guilty to three counts of racially aggravated harassment, two counts of common assault, and eight public order offences.

    Seeing as the BBC are downplaying his charges in that headline.

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    Police body worn footage showed that officers entered a room where Mr Burgess, who was wheelchair-bound with an amputated leg, had been isolated. He was holding a cutlery knife.


    Within 90 seconds of arriving, both officers used force on Mr Burgess. PC Smith discharged PAVA spray in his face and struck the arm holding the knife with a baton. PC Comotto then discharged her Taser.

    He was handcuffed and taken to hospital by ambulance and, while in hospital, sadly died on 13 July.

     

    Highland Council is set to redo a decision allowing convicted rapist David Brown to keep his taxi operator licence despite him being jailed for almost seven years last month.

    The extraordinary move came after a review request hearing came to the council’s licensing committee last Tuesday when it is understood that councillors voted behind-closed-doors by majority to allow Brown to keep the operator’s licence.

    It's not mentioned in this article or the BBC's article, but the radio reported that the vote was split across gender lines.

    What's the point in a licencing authority if they allow convicted rapists a licence? Especially as he committed the crime while performing the job of driving a taxi.

     

    Jarlshof (/ˈjɑːrlzhɒf/ YARLZ-hof)[1] is the best-known prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland, Scotland.

    It contains remains dating from 2500 BC up to the 17th century AD.

    The remains at Jarlshof represent thousands of years of human occupation and can be seen as a microcosm of Shetland history. Other than the Old House of Sumburgh (see below), the site remained largely hidden until a storm in the late 19th century washed away part of the shore, and revealed evidence of these ancient buildings. Formal archaeological excavation started in 1925, and Bronze Age relics were soon discovered.[13] Jarlshof was one of first two broch sites to be excavated using modern scientific techniques between 1949 and 1952.[9] Although the deposits within the broch had been badly disturbed by earlier attempts, this work revealed a complex sequence of construction from different periods.[14] Buildings on the site include the remains of a Bronze Age smithy, an Iron Age broch, an roundhouses, a complex of Pictish wheelhouses, a Viking longhouse[10][15] and a mediaeval farmhouse. No further excavations have been undertaken since the early 1950s, and no radiocarbon dating has been attempted.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarlshof

     

    Broch of Mousa (or Mousa Broch) is a preserved Iron Age broch or round tower. It is on the island of Mousa in Shetland, Scotland. It is the tallest broch still standing and amongst the best-preserved prehistoric buildings in Europe. It is thought to have been constructed c. 300 BC,[1] and is one of more than 500 brochs built in Scotland

    Mousa is a small, treeless island of open grassland and heath typical of the Shetland landscape. Its rocky coastline includes small natural inlets that provide landing places for boats.[5] Immediately beside the broch lies the sheltered tidal basin known as the Loch of Mousa, which connects to the sea through a narrow channel.[3]

    It is built of dry stone with no mortar.[11]

    Mousa Broch continued to be used over the centuries and is mentioned in two Norse Sagas. Egil's Saga tells of a couple eloping from Norway to Iceland who were shipwrecked and used the broch as a temporary refuge.[14] The Orkneyinga Saga gives an account of a siege of the broch by Earl Harald Maddadsson in 1153 following the abduction of his mother, who was held inside the broch.[14]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broch_of_Mousa

     

    Most history is about people in power. Kings, Queens, lords, bishops, etc. Here's a piece about the common folk.

    The Colony was a squatters' community on commonty, or common land, on one side of Bennachie, a range of hills near Aberdeen, Scotland.[1]

    From the beginning of the nineteenth century common land in the parishes of Chapel of Garioch and Oyne on the east side of Bennachie became home to a community of squatters. This settlement was known locally as the Colony. Various estimates have been made of when the colony began with some citing 1825 but according to Fagen the first documentary evidence is from 1831.[2] A small number of families led a crofting life supplementing it by doing skilled work, such as dyking, quarrying and knitting.[3][4][5]

    In 1859, eight neighbouring landlords took possession of sections of Bennachie as part of their estates. This action, recognised in law from 5 March 1859, has become known as the Division of the Commonty. As a result, the population on the side of the hill began to decline. Most of the crofts were built on land claimed by Col. Charles Leslie of Balquhain and Fetternear. His son, Charles Stephen Leslie, was responsible for evicting some of the residents in 1878.

    The last of the colonists, George Esson, lived on the hill until his death in May 1939. Esson was a drystone dyker. While working on the Dunecht Estate, repairing old dykes and creating new ones, he would lodge with a Mrs Cooper at Dunecht, then walk the twenty miles back to the colony at weekends.[6]

    Visitors to Bennachie can explore the Colony, including the remains of a croft which was excavated as part of the Fetternear Research Project in 1999.[7]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colony_(Bennachie)

    https://bailiesofbennachie.co.uk/landscapes-project/the-bennachie-colony

    Edit: fun fact! Bennachie means "hill of the breast" in Scottish Gaelic and is also the only known source of Macaulayite.

    Macaulayite is a red, earthy, monoclinic mineral, with the chemical formula (Fe3+,Al)24Si4O43(OH)2.[3] It was discovered in the 1970s by Jeff Wilson and named after the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. The only known source of macaulayite in the world is a quarry at the foot of Bennachie, Aberdeenshire,[4] and it is formed by granite which has been weathered by tropical climates from before the last ice age. The substance is currently being studied by NASA, as it is speculated that this is the substance which gives the planet Mars its colour and it could prove that life on Mars can be sustained.[4]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaulayite

     

    There's a lot of history at Huntly, so strap yourself in, this is a long one!

    The castle was originally built by Duncan II, Earl of Fife, on the Strathbogie estate sometime around 1180 and 1190.[2][1] The castle became known as the Peel of Strathbogie.[3]

    In 1506, the castle was officially renamed Huntly Castle.[2]


    Although the castle was burned to the ground, a grander castle was built in its place.

    James IV came to Huntly in October 1501 and gave gifts of money to the stonemasons working on the castle.

    James IV played cards at the castle on 10 October 1505 and gave a tip to masons working on the building.

    Areas of the original ornate facade and interior stonework remain.


    The English diplomat Thomas Randolph stayed two nights in September 1562,[15] and wrote that the castle was "fayer, beste furnishede of anye howse that I have seen in thys countrie."[16] Mary, Queen of Scots decided to take the castle, giving as a cause that the Earl withheld from her a royal cannon lent to him by Regent Arran.[17] She sent her half-brother John Stewart, Commendator of Coldingham to arrest the George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly at Huntly Castle in October 1562. On the day William Kirkcaldy of Grange and the Tutor of Pitcur arrived first and surrounded the house. While Kirkcaldy was talking to the castle porter, the castle watchman on the tower spotted Coldingham and the Master of Lindsay and their troops a mile off. He alerted the Earl, who ran without "boot or sword" and hopped over a low wall at the back of the castle and found a horse before Pitcur could stop him. Elizabeth Keith, Countess of Huntly then welcomed the queen's men and gave them a meal and showed them around the place. She still had her chapel furnished for Roman Catholic worship.[18][19]


    The king arrived at Huntly on 26 April 1589 after spending a night at Kintore. The Earl of Huntly had fled to the mountains, stripping the countryside and emptying the house of furniture. James brought 100 workmen to demolish the castle. Huntly sent the king an offer to spare the house and surrendered.[37]

    In May 1593 the Earl captured a man called Pedder in the lands of Atholl. Pedder was hanged and dismembered and his body parts displayed on poles at Huntly.[39]

    In April 1594 a Flemish ship came to Montrose and it was suspected that a messenger rode to Huntly Castle with a bag of Spanish gold.[40] In July, the Earl was overseeing the building of a new hall and gallery.[41] Following the battle of Glenlivet, James VI came with workmen again and his master of works William Schaw, and planned to blow up the "gret old tower" which had been "fourteen years in building" on 29 October 1594.[42] The kirk minister Andrew Melville was with the king and a vocal advocate for demolition.[43] Aberdeen town council bought twenty stones in weight of gunpowder for the demolition of Huntly and other places,[44] and sent the stonemason John Fraser and other workmen to the demolition work at Huntly and Old Slains Castle, equipped with new shovels.[45]

    The royal council met at Terrisoule to discuss the planned demolition on 28 October. Some Lords wanted the fortress kept to hold a loyal garrison. James VI still wished the whole castle, the new and old work, to be slighted.[46] It was decided not to completely demolish Huntly and Slains Castle and other houses, but preserve them for the convenience of the royal garrisons. It was also said that the pleas of the Countesses of Huntly and Erroll to save the houses were successful.[47]


    Huntly spent large sums restoring and enlarging the castle in April 1597.[52] The restored facade of the main block was carved with the names and titles of the marquess, "George Gordon" and his wife, "Henrietta Stewart" who was a favourite of the queen, Anne of Denmark.[53] In February 1603 James VI made plans to resolve the Marquess's feuds including a royal visit to Huntly with Anne of Denmark and the Earl of Moray later in the year. The visit did not take place because of the death of Elizabeth I and the subsequent Union of the Crowns.[54]


    Captured in October 1644, the castle was briefly held by James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose against the Duke of Argyll. In 1647 it was gallantly defended against General David Leslie by Lord Charles Gordon, but its 'Irish' garrison was starved into surrender. Savage treatment was meted out, for the men were hanged and their officers beheaded. In December of the same year the Marquess of Huntly himself was captured and on his way to execution at Edinburgh was detained, by a refinement of cruelty, in his own mansion. His escort was shot against its walls.

    An ammunition house contained 81 muskets, match cord, and ten cannon.[56] In 1650 Charles II visited briefly on his way to the Battle of Worcester, defeat and exile. The Civil War brought an end to the Gordon of Huntly family's long occupation of the castle.


    In 1689, during the first Jacobite rising, the castle was briefly the headquarters for Viscount Dundee and his Jacobite army, at the end of April, just after the start of the revolt. However, by the early eighteenth century the castle was already in decay and providing material for predatory house builders in the village. In 1746, during a later Jacobite rising, it was occupied by British government troops. Thereafter, it became a common quarry until a groundswell of antiquarian sentiment in the 19th century came to the rescue of the noble pile.

    Huntly Castle remained under the ownership of the Clan Gordon until 1923. Today, the remains of the castle are cared for by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.[57]

    Pure Strength I, a major international strongman competition, was held on the grounds of Huntly Castle in 1987. The winner of the contest was Jón Páll Sigmarsson of Iceland.[58]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntly_Castle

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