@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot cover
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

FaithfullJohn

@[email protected]

Scottish mineralogist/petrologist/geologist living on Mull. He/him.

#Rocks, #Minerals, #Geoscience, #Geology, #Mineralogy, #Geochemistry, #Chemistry, #Mining, #ASM

#Books, #Poetry, #Mull, #Museums, #Pottery, #Ceramics

#Dogs, #Rodents, #Raccoons, #Boats, #Mountains, #Collecting, #Stuff, #Depression, #Anxiety

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@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

Will Labour's plans on immigration have the effect of prompting a mass exodus from nursing in the NHS?

Certainly this is what some in the nursing profession expect, with foreign born nurses having to wait longer for residence & fulfil higher demands.

As so often pandering to the Right is likely to have a major impact in things most of us (not just any remaining Labour supporters) hold dear.

Labour is looking to score yet another own goal!

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/20/up-to-50000-nurses-could-quit-uk-over-immigration-plans-survey-suggests

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 🤬🤬🤬😭

@potterybyosa@mastodon.social avatar potterybyosa , to random

Just a middle aged woman getting her first pair of progressive lenses. I’ve been slightly nearsighted since I was a kid but in recent years it’s been getting more difficult to read up close. I would have just grabbed a pair of drugstore magnifiers but my eyes are very different from each other. My right eye is much more farsighted than my left. Everyone in the office congratulated me on my first pair of progressives like it was a big deal? lol idk

A selfie I took sitting at the optometrist office wearing a new pair of glasses. They are somewhat large and cat eye shaped with a brown and black pattern that almost looks like animal print but isn’t. The white price tag is still a fixed to the frame. I’m a black woman with shoulder length locs wearing dangly earrings and a black and tan sweater.
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FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@potterybyosa @kenSwinson By coincidence, two days ago, I was speaking to Hugh MacTavish, who has made pots at the Argyll Pottery for 40 years. He mentioned that he needs eyes & hands to keep going. But he also mentioned back problems as a potential disaster for potters like him, who throw all their pots. He's doing fine on all fronts for now. 😊

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , (edited ) to random

This thread is worth reading if you are a Google docs user.

Short version: When you export a document from Google Docs, Google replaces all your hyperlinks with links that allows Google to monitor the interactions of everyone you share your document with.

This hidden link replacement can potentially be used to build a model of your professional relations, where people who interact more with your content are considered a stronger relation.

Think about the implications.
https://fosstodon.org/@Joe_0237/111145684757912952

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@randahl 🤬😡

@eunews@mastodon.social avatar eunews , to random

Trump adviser to Germany’s far-right AfD: ‘We are in this together’

MAGA social media guru Alex Bruesewitz visited Berlin to make common cause with the far-right Alternative for Germany at a time when the party is seeking allies in the U.S.

https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-ally-alex-bruesewitz-to-germanys-afd-we-are-in-this-together/

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@eunews 🤬 🤮

@nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , to random

End of Japanese community at Mozilla due to the introduction of AI-based translation.

The community members have expressed disappointment and frustration that their long term volunteer efforts and local knowledge were being replaced by machine translation, which they felt did not match the quality of human provided support.

This is why Mozilla sucks so much, they are going crazy like rest of the industry.

Source
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/717446

Added screenshot in case Mozilla decided to remove it

A screenshot of support.mozilla.org Forum name: SUMO community discussions Title: End of Japanese community Text by user named marsf that reads: Hi, I am a locale leader of SUMO Japanese community. I have contributed to the Support over 20 years, before the beginning of support.mozilla.org. Today, November 4, we decided to end our SUMO Japanese community. In October 22, the sumobot was introduced to Japanese KB articles. I cannot accept its behavior and no words. * It doesn't follow our translation guidelines. * It doesn't respect current localization for Japanese users, so they were lost. * It approves its direct English MT immediately for All archived KB articles. * It approves only in 72 hours after its updates, so we lost our work to train new contributors. * It has been working now without our acceptance, without controls, without communications. * Over 300 Knowledge Base articles are overridden by sumobot. They are all happened on the product server, not on staging server. I understand that this is mass destruction of our work and explicit violation to the Mozilla mission, allowed officially. Therefore, I (marsf) declare: * I quit to contribute to support.mozilla.org. * I prohibit to use all my translation as learning data for SUMO bot and AIs. * I request to remove all my translation from learned data of SUMO AIs. However, individual Japanese contributors may want to work in their responsibility. It is their choice, we don't care nor support. Bye.
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FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@nixCraft 😭🤬

@JimsPhotos@ohai.social avatar JimsPhotos , to random

I found this little fella dazed on a path in the garden. So brought him into the warm to recover for an hour, and I'm happy to say that he recovered well and eventually flew off towards the trees.

Bluetit

A small bird recovering from concussion in a warm tub.
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FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@JimsPhotos 😊👏

@ScienceDesk@flipboard.social avatar ScienceDesk , to random

AI is changing our understanding of earthquakes.

From @KnowableMag : "Machine learning is expanding scientists’ catalogs of quakes and refining maps of underground faults. It also promises to improve quake forecasts."

https://flip.it/e1gpNZ

FaithfullJohn ,
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@ScienceDesk @KnowableMag This is true, but the "AI" involved has little to do with the technobros generative deception/fakery masquerading under the same term. Classing them all as the same thing gives unwarranted kudos to the latter. The "AI" term is now just a marketing hype word. It has effectively no meaning, and it is not helpful to use it. 😭 Thank you! 🤓

@GetCarter@mastodonapp.uk avatar GetCarter , to random

My other half's latest pastel pencil drawing.

Lemur.
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FaithfullJohn ,
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@GetCarter 🤩😊

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

Inequalities in land ownership in Scotland are among the most pronounced in Europe with half of all Scottish land held by 1% of the population;

the Scottish Green's are seeking to introduce an amendment to the Land Reform Bill that would limit further consolidation through purchase by banning land being bought by those who already own 500 hectares of Scotland already.

Many would like to see (but don't expect) a similar move South of the Border

https://greens.scot/news/land-is-power

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 . I thought 500 hectares seemed quite small, and would be problematic for many farms. But this interesting doc suggests prob not. Maps + size data on Scottish farms here: here:https://www.gov.scot/publications/economic-report-scottish-agriculture-2016/pages/8/

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

I have never met a medium as polite as Mastodon. Sure, even here I have a met impolite people, but only very rarely.

In comment sections of news media, and on Facebook and elsewhere, I have been verbally abused for years for presenting political views, and I have experienced so many death threats, I stopped counting.

But not on Mastodon.

That is my review and you can quote me on that @Gargron .

FaithfullJohn ,
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@Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar Daojoan , to random

The real productivity hack is accepting that most tasks aren't worth optimizing and just doing them badly

FaithfullJohn ,
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@Daojoan 😁 but spot on.

@junesim63@mstdn.social avatar junesim63 , to random

Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.'

This is the guy who donated £257m to Tony Blair's institute and wants to use all our UK data to train Oracle's AI. Digital ID cards are a step.on the way.

https://fortune.com/2024/09/17/oracle-larry-ellison-surveillance-state-police-ai/

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@junesim63 Exactly this. ☹️🤬

@theregister@geeknews.chat avatar theregister Bot , to random

Google-sponsored DORA report reframes AI as central to software development

Most organizations use AI in dev, the question now is how to use it properly, claims report Google Cloud's 2025 DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment) report is out, claiming that since 90 percent of respondents now make some use of AI for software development, the question is not whether to adopt it …

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/09/24/googlesponsored_dora_report_reframes_ai/

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@theregister 🧐☹️😡

@publicdomainrev@mastodon.social avatar publicdomainrev , to random

The Mineralogist, 1830 — a coloured lithograph by George Madeley, after a drawing by George Spratt.

One of more than 900 prints available through our online shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@publicdomainrev wutt??? 🤯😂

@theregister@geeknews.chat avatar theregister Bot , to random

Apple iOS 26 set to dump 75M iPhones on the e-waste pile

XR, XS, and XS Max owners left with $268M worth of scrap The pending release of Apple's iOS 26 could see around 75 million iPhones rendered obsolete, generating more than 1.2 million kilograms of e-waste globally, according to new research.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/09/02/apple_ios_26_waste/

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@theregister 🤬😭

@killyourfm@layer8.space avatar killyourfm , to random

I love granite.

Sheer granite face of a massive mountain in Yosemite, streaked with vertical lines and textures, with a single pine tree in the foreground.
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FaithfullJohn ,
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@GetCarter@mastodonapp.uk avatar GetCarter , to random

This photo is upside down.

Tree reflected in still water.
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FaithfullJohn ,
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@GetCarter Were there midges? 😂

FaithfullJohn ,
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@evacide@hachyderm.io avatar evacide , to random

You will sure be shocked to discover that I have some things to say about AI-powered "smart" glasses that give no indication that they are recording your every word.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/20/harvard-dropouts-to-launch-always-on-ai-smart-glasses-that-listen-and-record-every-conversation/

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@evacide 😬

@nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , to random

Oh my. New Data centre construction is rapidly becoming number one construction activity in the United States.

A line graph titled "Data Center vs. Office Construction" shows the value of US general office construction (yellow line) and new data center construction (black line) from 2014 to 2025. The two lines appear to converge in 2025, with data center construction poised to overtake office construction
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FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@nixCraft 🤬🤮

@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar gerrymcgovern , to random

"When Australian artificial intelligence expert Dr Kobi Leins declined a medical specialist’s request to use AI transcription software during her child’s upcoming appointment, the practice told her the practitioner required the technology be used and Leins was "welcome to seek an alternative" provider."

https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2025/kobi-refused-a-doctors-ai-she-was-told-to-go-elsewhere.html

We are giving our lives and health over to a piece of super dangerous AI crap. All for supposed efficiency and cost savings and to make the tech bros richer.

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@gerrymcgovern This 💯 🤬

@LibrarianRA@worldkey.io avatar LibrarianRA , to random

(Ad from 1970 MTSU yearbook) The kind who carries his porn out in the open
.

Advertisement discusses purchasing rings from your college education. A young man in a suit and tie carries his books with a playboy slipped in between. A young woman gently touches his books while looking long at him. Over his shoulders another woman looks over her shoulders at him yearningly.
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FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@LibrarianRA also is a sadly topical name these days. 😬☹️

@transworld@masto.ai avatar transworld , to random

The U.K. is set to ban trans people from single-sex facilities — even some that match their biological sex.

https://www.advocate.com/world/united-kingdom-transgender-bathroom-ban

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@transworld 😭🤬🤬🤬

@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar FaithfullJohn , to random

Round pebbles are surprisingly rare, as @geomannie has noted... Here's a large and very spherical pebble (strictly a cobble 🤓 ) which I found a few years ago at Kilfinichen Bay on Mull. Not quite my roundest natural stone, but it gets bonus points for large size I think.

A pink hand holding a large and nearly perfectly spherical large naturally worn grey stone.
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@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar arstechnica , to random

Paramount accused of bribery as it settles Trump lawsuit for $16 million
CBS owner won't apologize for reporting but gives $16M to presidential library.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/07/paramount-accused-of-bribery-as-it-settles-trump-lawsuit-for-16-million/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

FaithfullJohn ,
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@georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random

Someone’s Big Beautiful Mad.

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@georgetakei Gross hypocrisy - it's as much his fault as the rest of the enablers of the modern GOP. 🤬 🤮

@CarveHerName@mstdn.social avatar CarveHerName , to random

"You have trampled under foot every vital principle of our government. My natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, my judicial rights, are all alike ignored."

, 17 Jun 1873, Susan B Anthony is tried for illegally voting in the 1872 US Presidential election.


1/2

Photo of Susan B Anthony. She is a white woman with white hair, dressed in high Victorian clothing.
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FaithfullJohn ,
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@CarveHerName I had not heard of her until today - thank you! 🙏 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony

@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar FaithfullJohn , to random

Another pic from yesterdays voyage (plus a few landings) around south Iona. There are at least three birds in this picture, lurking on the Lewisian gneiss. Can you find them? Answer this evening... 😎

A view of a dark rocky shore outcrop with a small rock pool and some dead seaweed. Concealed in this view are three small, superbly camouflaged birds.
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FaithfullJohn OP ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

Three wee oystercatchers 🥰

@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar arstechnica , to random

“Yuck”: Wikipedia pauses AI summaries after editor revolt
The test grew out of a discussion at Wikimedia’s 2024 conference.
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/06/yuck-wikipedia-pauses-ai-summaries-after-editor-revolt/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@arstechnica Good. 👏

@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar arstechnica , to random

Meta and Yandex are de-anonymizing Android users’ web browsing identifiers
Abuse allows Meta and Yandex to attach persistent identifiers to detailed browsing histories.
https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/06/headline-to-come/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@arstechnica Nothing here is surprising, but the relentless deviousness and shabbiness of Meta especially is 🤮

@w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

Among the American business leaders attending today’s US-Saudi lunch in Riyadh: Elon Musk (Tesla/X), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Larry Fink (BlackRock), Andy Jassy (Amazon) and those from Boeing, Citicorp, IBM, NVIDIA and Palantir. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/us/politics/trump-saudi-business-lunch-musk-altman.html

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@w7voa Parcel of rogues. ☹️

@GetCarter@mastodonapp.uk avatar GetCarter , to random

The triumph of hope over expectation.

Sapling tree growing from boulder.
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FaithfullJohn ,
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@GetCarter ...and herbivores.... 😁

@CarveHerName@mstdn.social avatar CarveHerName , to random

, 12 May 1743, Maria Theresa Habsburg is crowned Queen of Bohemia and consolidates her position as the ruler of the Austrian empire. The Seven Year War was promoted by rival claims to the empire, and she worked to elevate her husband to be Holy Roman Emperor. After his death she co-ruled with her son.

She sponsored trials of smallpox inoculation, having lost three of her children to the disease.

Maria Theresa Habsburg with her various crowns. She is a white woman with pale hair, dressed in silks and velvet.
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FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@CarveHerName She was a pal of the also-amazing, and seriously under-known Caroline-Louise von Baden, who is one of the very first women recorded as carrying out geological fieldwork "much to astonishment of her subjects"...
More here: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/badencaroline-louise-von/

@GetCarter@mastodonapp.uk avatar GetCarter , to random

I made this vid years ago, but have never posted here... so...

(PS. Watch to the end!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbDa-2ckvXw

FaithfullJohn ,
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

@GetCarter Fabulous!!😊 👏 🤩

@kenSwinson@indieweb.social avatar kenSwinson , to random

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    FaithfullJohn ,
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    @kenSwinson That is a cheery teapot! 😊 👍

    @ErikJonker@mastodon.social avatar ErikJonker , to geopolitics group

    The mineral agreement is not very specific, underlying agreements need to be worked out and approved, which will contain the important details. My impression Zelensky gives Trump a "win" but has limited the damage at this time.
    https://kyivindependent.com/exclusive-the-full-text-of-the-final-us-ukraine-mineral-agreement/
    geopolitics@a.gup.pe icon geopolitics group

    FaithfullJohn ,
    @FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

    @ErikJonker geopolitics@a.gup.pe icon geopolitics group interesting - as you say, pretty nebulous.

    @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org avatar PoLaRobs , to random

    The UK higher education finance system is severely broken. From people in universities who I collaborate with, I hear how much universities are struggling to balance the books. As a father of two students who graduated in the past few years and one current student, it is clear to me the student loan system is unsustainable.
    Over the the festive period my eldest, who graduated 5 years ago and has earned enough to pay off some of the debt in every year since, updated me on how this is going:
    Amount loaned over 3 years: £39k
    Debt when leaving university: £45k (interest is charged from the start of loans)
    Current debt, despite repayments: £50k
    If young people earning fairly good incomes are not succeeding in paying down their student loans, the amount that will ultimately have to be written off is going to be astronomical.

    FaithfullJohn ,
    @FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

    @Ruth_Mottram @PoLaRobs English unis in particular financed themselves on the assumption of an ever-growing and everlasting stream of tuition fees, and accomodation fees from students, who would themselves pay for all of this by their loans. Unis borrowed money for vast capital projects accordingly. Often on terrible terms, including never having operating deficits, even short-term ones. Unsurprisingly, this was unwise. 😬

    FaithfullJohn ,
    @FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

    @Stevenheywood @Ruth_Mottram @PoLaRobs Here's a wee poem I wrote for the @ucu strikes in 2020

    Scrrenshot of a poem in a black sans-serif font on white background. The Sustainable University ‘The sustainable University has One very remarkable feature. Though very widely spoken of, It remains an invisible creature. Growth is the God. You worship growth. With every corporate breath. Expansion, building, rushing on, Views steady-state as Death. ‘The students come. You pile them in, And splash their cash on things: On concrete, glass, flights round the world, And managerial bling. But when it come to teaching them That's barely worth a mention. Staff might want decent wages or Might want a decent pension. Works not being done. We're out on strike, sad, angry and we get no pay. We're doing this because we know Itdoesn't have to be this way. © John Faithfull March 2020
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    • @FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar FaithfullJohn , to random

    😊 My stressful day has been improved by lovely thing arriving in the post today. It's a Nigerian 20-Naira note - I think the only currency in the world to feature a potter, the wonderful Lady Kwali. Other countries need to get their acts together, and do likewise! 😁 😊 🤩 @potterybyosa

    @arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar arstechnica , to random

    Political deepfakes are the most popular way to misuse AI

    Study from Google's DeepMind lays out nefarious uses AI is being utilized for.

    https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/06/political-deepfakes-are-the-most-popular-way-to-misuse-ai/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

    FaithfullJohn ,
    @FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot avatar

    @arstechnica So everybody is desperately rolling out this stuff in a demented frenzy despite everybody knowing that its main use and effect is to mislead/lie, or at very best, destroy trust in any online content? And burn the planet doing it? weeps 😭

    @arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar arstechnica , to random

    Larry Finger, Linux wireless hero, was a persistent, patient coder and mentor

    Remembering Finger, 84, who learned as he went and left his mark on many.

    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/06/larry-finger-linux-wireless-hero-was-a-persistent-patient-coder-and-mentor/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

    FaithfullJohn ,
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    @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar gerrymcgovern , to random

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    FaithfullJohn ,
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    @gerrymcgovern 😭🤮🤬