Matt Dimond-Brown

Just closed my @firstdirect account following @HSBC decision to withdraw from Net Zero partnership yesterday. Sticking with @AskNationwide while they stay in. Who else feels as I do? #ClimateEmergency

@GlosLiveOnline results for Tewkesbury West are incorrect. See tewkesbury.gov.uk/wp-content/upl…

This is my farewell post. I am not deleting this account, as I don’t want to lose the archive, and I don’t want my name taken by imposters. But, for as long as Musk owns the platform, I’ll no longer use it. I’m now posting at georgemonbiot.bsky.social. Since Elon Musk bought this site, he has transformed it from one on which millions could converse as equals into his personal megaphone. Now the world’s richest man uses it to wage his class war, transferring blame for the ills of capitalism onto vulnerable minorities, boosting the grimmest and most antisocial accounts while suppressing the humane voices with whom he disagrees. He has used X not only to subvert the election for the US presidency, but to create a role for himself in US politics which, though he has never stood for election and would not be eligible, grants him immense power over the citizens of that nation. This site has been used as a tool to help replace democracy with oligarchy. Musk claimed, on purchasing the platform, to be a “free speech absolutist”. He is in fact a prolific censor, suspending dissenting accounts and using lawsuits to shut down free speech, while employing an algorithm to increase the reach of his own posts 1,000-fold. He cannot abide a level playing field. He has permitted or encouraged the growth of a ghost army of bots and trolls to degrade the experience of all who disagree with him. Their task is not just to abuse opponents but, perhaps more importantly, to drown intelligent conversation with a tsunami of stupidity. They respond to data with denial, expertise with execration, insight with insult, humour with hatred and thinking with thuggery. They suck the meaning out of everything. The stupidity trends in one direction: in the service of economic power. It is a weapon used to suppress the possibility of a better world. Many years ago, when I lived in Brazil, I learnt that the military dictatorship had actively sought to suppress educational levels in schools, as it saw a well-informed population as a political threat. A confused, distracted and ignorant population is easy to manipulate. Now this counter-educational model is being rolled out worldwide, and Elon Musk is its primary sponsor. I stayed here long after I first considered leaving, as I believed it was wrong to cede the ground to an oligarch and his minions. But I came to see that those of us who do not subscribe to Musk’s grim project are being used as groundbait: stimulating the feeding frenzy of 15-minute, 24-hour hate that now powers this platform. We can no longer build anything of value here. Brute force – the unmediated power of money – has beaten humanity, intelligence, humour and democracy. On Bluesky I can be the person I want to be, a better person than I am on X, where it is almost impossible not to get dragged into the mud. I feel I can be understood because I am not confronting a deliberate effort to misunderstand me. So I can speak more quietly. There is no guarantee that Bluesky will not also one day be monetised by its owners or captured by self-serving billionaires. But for now it remains a place in which interesting and enjoyable conversations can be had, kindness can be shown to strangers and a better world can be imagined. I hope to see you there.

Here's our 9 best picnic spots on the Network to help! #LittleRedSign #NationalCycleNetwork #PathsForEveryone #Sustrans #ActiveTravel #SustainableTransport #Cycling #Walking #Wheeling #Exploring #Adventure #FreshAir #Nature #Community 👉 buff.ly/3SkwPbO

Looking for low cost, family friendly activities this Summer Holiday? ☀️ How about packing a picnic and getting out on the National Cycle Network, walking wheeling or cycling? 🥪🧃🍇

Racist thugs who went to Southport to get their country back kicked in the doors of Chanaka Balasuryla's minimart & stole over £10K of stock. Local salon owner Rose Tucker has raised £10.5K from 500 donors as the stock isn't covered by insurance. That's OUR country.

#XRUK activists are cycling from London to the #ParisOlympics2024 to call out British Cycling for making deals with climate criminals. #Shell aren’t sponsoring @BritishCycling because they love the sport, it's just #greenwashing #GetShellOutOfBritishCycling @cyclingweekly

#Shell has spent decades denying the science of the climate crisis. @BritishCycling’s decision to take oily sponsorship money from @Shell is like “shaking hands with the devil” #XRUK cyclists set out from London to take the message to #Paris2024 #GetShellOutOfBritishCycling

🚨Cornwall Services🚨 The chargers at Cornwall Electric Super Hub are currently out of service. We are working to get them back online asap. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Please check our map for the latest 👉 electrichighway.gridserve.com

Bathing water quality can be temporarily affected by natural factors like storms and tides ⛈️ When we predict a potential dip in water quality, we issue a pollution risk forecast warning and advise against swimming. Check Swimfo before you swim: environment.data.gov.uk/bwq/profiles/

🔟°C ⬆️ Average above normal for ground temperatures in Antarctica over the last month in a near record heatwave that has seen highs reportedly 28°C above expectations on some days. @damiengayle @dharnanoor bit.ly/3WO5Ec8

I love my black job 🖤

I just signed a petition: No prison for protest. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-p…

Always worth a reminder… youtube.com/watch?v=lLiyrY…

Nigel Farage says violent language by BBC comedians and Radio 4 commentators have "encouraged" what happened to Trump and "have a lot to do with this". In other news, here's Farage in 2017 threatening to "pick up a rifle" if he didn't get the exact form of Brexit he wanted

“One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss.” “Which means that Copenhagen, a city of 1.2 million people, saves $357 million a year on health costs because something like 80% of its population commutes by bike.” grist.org/biking/one-mil…

Whilst we're discussing auto-obesity, never overestimate the sheer stupidity and selfishness of vehicles like this within a city. 2.6 tonnes transporting 1 x 80kg person most of the time, then statistically remaining parked for the other 95% of its life. Tax them to oblivion

“The UK is nightmare for climate activists” - UN Rapporteur. Thanks ⁦@damiengayle⁩ for spotlight on horrific treatment of peaceful climate protestors by courts where evidence of #climateemergency not allowable & sentences shockingly disproportionate theguardian.com/environment/ar…

😲 BREAKING WIN! 🏛️ The @sciencemuseum has finally dropped Norwegian oil and gas firm @Equinor as a sponsor after it failed to align with the Paris 1.5°C target! 🙌 Now, will the museum cut ties to polluter BP and coal and arms conglomerate Adani?! 👀 theguardian.com/environment/ar…

Now that prisoners - including some convicted of violent crimes - are being released early due to overcrowding, it is even more outrageous that peaceful climate protesters face jail. The Tories' authoritarian anti-protest laws must be repealed.