Am listening to one now (1). I do wish I had made a buzzword bingo card. Might have made it more tolerable. Obviously if sponsors are sponsoring something, they have to be given their moment in the bully pulpit. But are they ever going to say anything interesting, that people attending the workshop don't already... Continue Reading →
On the “slow” motion privatisation of the NHS and feelings of dread
Twice now, once last year and just now, I've had the experience I am sure millions of others are having. You need something done and rather than it being dealt with "in-house" the NHS is farming it out to private companies. All in the name of "efficiency" don't you know. Never mind the senior politicians... Continue Reading →
Of masochism and learning to walk away (or not even go there).
The Wife has told me a million times. The Wife is - as so frustratingly-often is the case - absolutely right. But still I attended a webinar of a group that claims it is doing things differently (I won't go further than that). And the webinar was about a very very important question, around the... Continue Reading →
Two webinars and a podcast – (#UsualRant abt uselessness of most “intellectual” work “for” social movements)
Stop me if you've heard this one before (pro-tip; you have from me, endlessly). People like the sound of their own voices. People who think (or DO) have a lot to say like to say it. They are remarkably incurious about what their audience (the ego-fodder) might know/have to contribute. The hosts of these events... Continue Reading →
A properly Star-FT brain #02 – Labour factions, Mark Fisher and Gaza
Another blog about the Morning Star and Financial Times, which I get most Saturdays. See first blog here. The Morning Star had some good stuff Kerr, M. 2024. Miliband commits to £8.3bn GB Energy investment strategy. Morning Star, February 17, p.3. McCail, C. 2024. The anti-politics of Starmer's Labour. Morning Star, February 17, p.12-13. (on... Continue Reading →
Ban the word “we” (also, bragging abt exercise)
Sat on an exercise bike before work this morning. In past had read Financial Timeses and Morning Stars, but that gets in the way of really going for it. So I was listening to a podcast (I like to keep up with new trends). I won't mention the name, but it's a well-respected one, with... Continue Reading →
Does Dracula have a bacula? And poor Scott Bakula?!
So, am reading a book about a guy reading the Encyclopaedia Britannica. (See here). And he mentions bacula... Penis bones, or bacula, are found in several groups of mammals—scientists remember them with the mnemonic PRICC (Primates, but not humans; Rodents; Insectivores, like hedgehogs; Carnivores, like dogs and seals; and Chiroptera, bats Which lead me to ponder -... Continue Reading →
All the pearl-wringing and hand-clutching about “Labour” abandoning the 28bn. What. Did. You. Expect?
There's acres of coverage about the Labour scrapping of its only quarter-way decent policy (the "Green Prosperity Plan.") The right-wingers are rolling out the "flipflop"/"stand for nothing line" (echoed by sentient lefties too). There's good "what might it mean medium-term?" (nothing good) stuff from the likes of Monbiot and Andy Beckett. And then there's rather a lot... Continue Reading →
A properly Star-FT brain #01 – of Green Prosperity Plans, monophysitism and letters pages etc
"The two essential daily newspapers in the UK are the Morning Star and the Financial Times" - discuss (1). I've not time, money or inclination to get them every day, but on Saturdays... So, I will try to blog a bit about them, what I learn etc. For the FT it might only be the... Continue Reading →
The coming months on #climate in the UK
Written at speed, apols for typos etc. Musings on what we may see and "what is to be done" (bracing for impact, mostly?) The situation is one of clusterfuckery, escalating to collective suicide. Keir Starmer, to absolutely nobody's surprise, is ditching the promise to spend £28bn per year on green investment. This promise, made by his... Continue Reading →
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