There are Things I Have to Do. I went for a yomp to feed moorhens and swans (and shed lard - I go out with a weighted jacket - ten kilos of 1 and 2 pence coins and also, latterly, a backpack with a few bricks) to map out some of these TIHD, and avoid... Continue Reading →
Handmaids, Leopards and Cory Doctorow
The set-up in The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is that the Bad People have managed to end women’s economic independence at the tap of a few keys on a keyboard. You had to take those pieces of paper with you when you went shopping, though by the time I was nine or ten most... Continue Reading →
Reasons we are fubarred #8647
So many other reasons among the 8646 others. Here's another. The people who study, and who think about why social movements haven't done a better job on climate change are - how to put this - blind to the some of the reasons why social movements haven't done a better job on climate change. This... Continue Reading →
We only handle so much truth
We only handle so much truth Before we label those ‘uncouth’ Who seek to widen views on wealth And worry on the planet’s health. We block our ears, avert our eyes And fill the broadcast slots with lies - With pretty tales of golden times - To stop us seeing earthly crimes. And little pigs... Continue Reading →
We stripped the orchard’s branches bare
All this is why I did not breed To tell you (thrice) I have a need. I ask again, did you expect A saving grace, in some respect? Or did you think “it cannot be” Despite the fact the brains agree “It could not happen” to the white With all their money, muscle, might For... Continue Reading →
A limerick about belief systems (I know, I should get out more)
We're all born into systems of belief Versus facts do these act: as a reef They all have a Bible And "thoughts" that are tribal You agree or else come to some grief
Thirsty hedgehogs and heartbreak in the Anthropocene/Fafocene
I am in the library. There is someone from a wildlife charity doing a presentation - with live creatures - to a bunch of young boys and girls their mothers, in attendance. We have, over the last few generations, of course, rendered it harder and harder for young people to have any connection with "Nature".... Continue Reading →
Metaphors we live (and die) by
A friend wrote the following on Bluesky All the metaphors we use to describe heedlessly pursuing one's own destruction - lemmings, cargo cults, Easter island, etc. - are actually colonial myths based on mistakes or lies. The real analogy for heedlessly pursuing one's own destruction is the colonial society itself. Some responses Yes, yes about lemmings... Continue Reading →
The Pitt, Black Liberation, and what we are not told.
The Pitt, the medical drama on HBO, lives up to the hype. It is worth, as was The Wire, your time and attention, for the questions it raises about how we live (or don’t live) now. The two shows are both about, well, people of good intent (the metrics may vary) doing the best they... Continue Reading →
The “I fucking told you so” window
https://bsky.app/profile/allouryesterdays.bsky.social/post/3moy27lpdl222 I don't think this graphic needs any additional commentary. So for once in my wretched life, Imma stfu.
