squid_slime

I ordered a Rodina automatic and I can't wait 😍😍😍 hoping it will arrive tomorrow.

I have a working Sekonda and a fualty but both I have been practising watchmaking on and this Rodina has been serviced so I won't need to mess with it and hopefully won't have that incessant itch to take it apart.

Soviet watch appreciation thread.

Bought an early production 2209 movement, the movement itself has a 20nm gold plate and was at the time known as an ultra slim movement measuring just under 3ml and competed directly with Swiss watch makers.

As a side note, I have not seen this dial variant and have to say, its aged beautifully with a deep purple patina pushing through the midnight blue and the added sunbeam effect gives it a stunning oil slick visual.

The Great British National Strike, taking place this weekend, is set to see more than 500,000 people across the country walking out in protest of the state of the UK.”

That’s how right-wing TV channel GB News previewed Saturday’s outbreak of al fresco grumbles, few of them more than a couple of dozen strong.

It makes you wonder if GBeebies has any more idea what ‘walking out’ means than the damp squib’s organisers have of what constitutes a ‘strike’.

Hi comrades, Over the last year, I have been having casual chats with a neighbour, Ross and I greet each other when we cross path.

He's a good guy making what he can of a system thats hostile towards neurodivergence, austerity in Britain has harmed so many, Ross even said himself how unfit exeter mental health support is. So Ross opts for his own therapy, riding through exeter on his bike while sharing his music. That has stopped since his bike was stolen last week.

So I'm sharing here his gofundme, if you can donate big or small it would be a lot to Ross and myself.

If you have suggestions on the blurb on the GoFundMe then please share.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/bring-the-techno-bike-back-to-exeter?lang=en_US&ts=1747856255&attribution_id=sl%3Af6e96d4a-0701-4369-8711-d45b25742f54&v=amp14_t1

Solidarity,

Squid

Reading is still relatively new to me, especially books. My grandmother left me he ereader and been using it for 4 years, recently I converted several books to open-dyslexia as a test and honesly. Its been great.

After reading Ultra-Processed People, I felt compelled to create a space where we can collectively scream into the void—and maybe also do something more constructive.

This community is for anyone concerned about the rise of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and their impact on our health. From cancer and diabetes to obesity and even mental health, the science is becoming hard to ignore.

I hope this space helps build awareness, solidarity, and support as we navigate the modern diet and try to reclaim real food.

Join us:

Ultra Processed Food

!ultraprocessedfood@lemm.ee

These so-called "strikes" lack the backing of organised workers, socialist parties, and real trade unions. They’ve hijacked our language while pushing an agenda that doesn’t represent the working class.

We won’t let them march unchallenged into our cities, masquerading as the voice of labour. It’s time to show them what real workers' power looks like.

• Raise this in your union meetings, trades councils, and leftist orgs.
• Organise against these right-wing LARPers.

WE DEMAND:

• Fair pay for all workers
• Decent housing for the many, not profit for the few
• Fully funded public services
• Fight the bosses—not migrants!

Locations

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to expand its military offensive against Gaza, with some officials suggesting it plans to capture and occupy the whole of the strip.

The Israeli military has called up tens of thousands of reservists in preparation, claiming it is “increasing the pressure” on Hamas to hasten the return of Israeli hostages. But the father of one of the hostages has even called on soldiers “not to report for reserve duty for moral and ethical reasons”, while a hostage campaign group has accused the government of “sacrificing” them.

The immediate effect will also extremely worsen the already dire situation for Palestinians in Gaza as the plans are set to forcibly displace people by centralising aid. Even before this new offensive, the World Food Programme says it has already run out of food and the Red Cross has said the humanitarian response in Gaza was on the verge of “total collapse”. Israel even likely attacked a peace flotilla near Malta with drones which was attempting to deliver aid.

I have been out of work for a few years while addressing my mental health through NHS therapy, a slow bureaucratic process. But I'm good now, and have been planning my future.

I was offered a job with my city council but I must have a driving licence, which I currently don't have, so I have gone for interviews with some low level work to pay for a driving test and the other day I had a job offer that will hopefully pay okay.

The issue is, I volunteered for a trial shift which I have done previously. Usually this consists of a 4 hour shift with form filling and shadowing. I received an email stating a few things I feel uncomfortable about.

• 8 hour trial shift. In the uk a trial shift can not be profitable for the company. And obviously I can't be shadowing and form filling for that amount of time.
• fingerprint scanning for safety, hours are up to manager discression. This has me concerned that the employer will be short changing me.
• pension scheme,

"For employees on minimum wage who have yet to enrol in our pension scheme then you will be paid and receive normal national living wage rates of pay in line with government age guidelines until your first pay rise above these rates

Once an employee receives a pay award more than minimum wage and becomes eligible to enrol and is invited onto our company pension scheme then the new hourly rate of pay we offer will include the 3% pension contribution. The way your hourly rate of pay is calculated will be clearly shown on all correspondence and will include the additional 3% portion of your pay which is a pension contribution. Whether the employee then decides to join the pension scheme or not is completely up to each employee to decide. Employee’s who decide to join the pension scheme will have the additional 3% portion of their hourly pay diverted to the pension scheme as required by the pension regulations to meet the employer’s liability while employee’s not joining the pension scheme will be paid the hourly rate as set out and agreed in correspondence. This policy ensures that all employees are always paid equally and there are no benefits or advantages to any employee regardless of their choice of joining the pension scheme or not.

Please note that employee’s enrolling to the pension scheme will also be subject to additional 5% deductions from their hourly pay which will then be paid into the employee’s pension scheme, again in line with all government rules.

Our company pension scheme is open to all employees when eligible. It is the employee's choice to decide whether they join the pension scheme and whether it fits with their personal circumstances.

Please note - if the percentage contributed by the employer to the pension scheme should be increased by the government at any future time, then hourly pay would be re-calculated, and the new proportion of pension payment re-directed to pension schemes.

Information about our company policies and procedures can be found on our portal page."

Sorry wall of text for the last bullet, I haven't seen a Pension Scheme done this way before.

I have sent an email back asking for confirmation on 8 hours unpaid labour. Will this have me seen as a trouble maker?

How concerned should I be with this employer?

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Peter Taaffe, who after a long illness died on 23 April 2025. The loss of Peter is a big blow to the working class movement and Trotskyism internationally. Since becoming active in the revolutionary movement in 1960, Peter made an indispensable contribution, both theoretically and practically in the hard graft necessary to build a revolutionary party and international. Peter was a leading member of the International Secretariat of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI), Political Secretary of the Socialist Party in England & Wales, and for many years its General Secretary.

Characteristically, Peter fought a determined battle against numerous illnesses in recent years which allowed him to enjoy his final years a little longer. On behalf of the CWI throughout the world and the Socialist Party in England & Wales, we send our heartfelt condolences to Peter’s wife Linda, daughters Nancy and Katie, his grandchildren and great-grandson, and all his family and friends.

Coming from Birkenhead, and an extremely poor working class background, Peter found his way to Marxism and revolutionary politics. Never going to university, working for Liverpool City Council for a time, he educated himself through the revolutionary movement and experience. Well versed in literature as well as Marxism, he was not what is often perceived in some circles as a stereotypical theoretician coming from a petty bourgeois background. As a result, Peter was an inspiration, especially to those not from an academic or petty bourgeois background themselves – he demonstrated what those from a working class background can be capable of theoretically and culturally. One of Peter’s strengths was that he never lost touch with the working class and oppressed as a workers’ leader. He continued to feel the pain and suffering they experienced. One of the greatest public orators of his generation, with a distinctive Merseyside accent and speaking style, Peter was able to immediately connect with audiences small and large. Peter summed up the horrors of capitalism and the struggles of the working class, explaining Marxist ideas in an accessible manner.

Open link to continue reading.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Peter Taaffe, who after a long illness died on 23 April 2025. The loss of Peter is a big blow to the working class movement and Trotskyism internationally. Since becoming active in the revolutionary movement in 1960, Peter made an indispensable contribution, both theoretically and practically in the hard graft necessary to build a revolutionary party and international. Peter was a leading member of the International Secretariat of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI), Political Secretary of the Socialist Party in England & Wales, and for many years its General Secretary.

Characteristically, Peter fought a determined battle against numerous illnesses in recent years which allowed him to enjoy his final years a little longer. On behalf of the CWI throughout the world and the Socialist Party in England & Wales, we send our heartfelt condolences to Peter’s wife Linda, daughters Nancy and Katie, his grandchildren and great-grandson, and all his family and friends.

Coming from Birkenhead, and an extremely poor working class background, Peter found his way to Marxism and revolutionary politics. Never going to university, working for Liverpool City Council for a time, he educated himself through the revolutionary movement and experience. Well versed in literature as well as Marxism, he was not what is often perceived in some circles as a stereotypical theoretician coming from a petty bourgeois background. As a result, Peter was an inspiration, especially to those not from an academic or petty bourgeois background themselves – he demonstrated what those from a working class background can be capable of theoretically and culturally. One of Peter’s strengths was that he never lost touch with the working class and oppressed as a workers’ leader. He continued to feel the pain and suffering they experienced. One of the greatest public orators of his generation, with a distinctive Merseyside accent and speaking style, Peter was able to immediately connect with audiences small and large. Peter summed up the horrors of capitalism and the struggles of the working class, explaining Marxist ideas in an accessible manner.

Open link to continue reading.