So, I was in Stafford today, seeing if I have MRSA ahead of a little light toe cutting. I absolutely did NOT go into the Oxfam bookshop, and I absolutely did NOT buy this book, and anyone who tells my wife is a snitch, and snitches get stitches. And in that book, which I absolutely... Continue Reading →
Of dentists, complicity and coping – End of Days Diary #04
Hello everyone. Yesterday's Doom diary was delayed for a few hours, because I went to the dentist for a checkup (the first since before the pandemic). Fortunately, it didn't turn out like that scene in Marathon Man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzw1_2b-I7A It was actually safe. But as I sat there, I thought “I'm glad I'm getting it check-up... Continue Reading →
Of moorhens, growth, football and nuclear war. End of Days diary #03
Welcome or welcome back, day three of what it feels like (to one white over-educated cis-hetero white male) to live in the first bits of the collapse, whether it's 18 weeks, months or even years (not that I am intending to do daily 1k blogs beyond 31 days. Unless someone pays me.) Since yesterday the... Continue Reading →
Book Review: Newsdeath by Ray Connolly
This is a terrific thriller, with a nasty but plausible twist in the tail. I will admit, having grown up on 'The Professionals,' that I have a weakness for "pulp" fiction of Eurotrash terrorists terrorising Western European cities for - seemingly - the hell of it. This, however, is a cut above (or several cuts... Continue Reading →
“Watch your civilisation slide out of view” – End of Days Diary #02 – #powerlessness…
Day 2 of the “Doom Diaries”, also known as the Lehrer diaries, because, as Tom Lehrer said, “If any good songs can come out of world war three, we better start writing now.” First, thanks to people who responded with reading suggestions, encouragement, comments, likes and the like; I will try to keep going. The... Continue Reading →
End of Days diary #01
I pray to the god who doesn’t exist that I can look back 18 months hence, and shake my head at the ‘hysterical’ position I was in back in June 2023. I hope I can join in the jeers of those climate denialists and ‘lukewarmists’ who say with condescension that fear of imminent collapse/apocalypse are... Continue Reading →
Of moorhens, mating and memory
S/he flew across the canal (10m or so?) which is a fair effort, if you know anything about moorhens. The wings are not decorative, but neither are they the wings of an albatross. I was walking homewards along the canal towpath, with high reeds and plants between me and water. I was just coming (another... Continue Reading →
Running out of Juice – of the need for protest, but much more. #SouthAustralia #petrostates #emotacycles #smugosphere
The judge was scathing. As the Sydney Morning Herald reported - "Passing sentence, Mr B. Riley, SM, said he agreed people had a right to demonstrate. "But that right is restricted to a proper place, a proper time and proper conditions, and never at the inconvenience of other people." Sydney Morning Herald, September 17... And... Continue Reading →
Steve Biko on the institutional needs of the security services…
Steve Biko was a smart guy. And as far as the apartheid regime in South Africa was concerned, a dangerous one. Here's an excerpt from an essay called Fear - An Important Determinant in South African Politics. My premise has always been that black people should not at any one stage be surprised at some... Continue Reading →
H3 vs CO2 – of Bob Brown, documentaries and our doom
The following blog post is about Bob Brown (the Australian activist and politician), documentaries and their function in wider social movements. Readers of a nervous - or G/green - disposition may want to look away... Two disclaimers/scene setters. First up, Bob Brown. The man is clearly a mensch, with oodles of physical and moral courage,... Continue Reading →