Everyone I know (i.e. the people in my Twitter feed) is staring at colourful graphs about sea ice, or global average temperatures, or else sharing footage of Just Stop Oil protests (a real “ACTUP” vibe, btw, for anyone old enough to remember the late 1980s). Or they are sharing “the cat should wear a bell”... Continue Reading →
Of #climate denialists, Toni Morrison and not feeding the trolls…
So, one thing that you learn quickly if you stick your head above the parapet on climate - especially on The Conversation, it seems - is that you’ll attract a few positive comments and at least as many trolls/denialists etc. [Addendum - As a white man I don't get the racism and sexism that the... Continue Reading →
On the Antarctic, morbid symptoms and being court in a trap End of Days #25
It will be hard to remember what it felt like right now. There are two options, as I see it. In the first, we return to “normal” weather patterns etc(how? Why? Is this not human-centric thinking, as if the world were made for us. Of course, lots of people believe it WAS made for us)... Continue Reading →
Hate letter to a dead denialist. And the Telegraph
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 →
“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 →
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 →
The mise-en-abyss, the double-bind and the Hirschman & Cocker Protocols…
While I wait to receive "no, not shortlisted" and "thanks for doing interview, but no thanks" emails, I am going through piles of printed off articles and putting in three piles - a) for (re)reading and blogging about soon b) for "one day" and c) can go in the recycling (once blank A4 and A5... Continue Reading →
Cycles, yes, but see the broader context… #GroundhogDayOrEndOfDays
Groundhog Day or End of Days is a project I am doing to find out people's thoughts on the cyclical nature of UK climate activism. You can read more about it here. I'm interviewing various folks, some of whom I already know, and others I don't. The first interview was with Alastair McIntosh, and you... Continue Reading →
Climate Activism from 2002…
Last week I put up a leaflet from November 2000, with activists from Rising Tide trying to explain what was at stake around COP6, in the Netherlands. Well, I've just stumbled on a copy of an Earth First! Action Update from 2002. Here below are the first two pages. Btw, gee, it turns out the... Continue Reading →