Long before we scrolled, we skimmed. The headlines are supposed to give you the story "in a nutshell". That and the first sentence, that is there to tell you who did what when, where and 'why'. Except of course, it's always more complicated than that - but these are the myths journalists like to believe... Continue Reading →
Short post, because should be working. Kirstie Allsop, who is some sort of television presenter (1) is being hauled over the coals because she let her 15 year old son go interrailing with his older brother (or someone older, I can't be bothered to read beyond the headlines) Some (e.g. Ally Fogg) are suggesting this... Continue Reading →
You can come up with all the elaborate diagrams and schema you like for thinking and talking about power. They'll definitely be read by reviewers one and two (it is always reviewer two, innit?). And once it's published in some paywalled journal it will be read by, ooh, a dozen or so other people. World-changing.... Continue Reading →
I'm co-presenting something soon on the thorny question of "hope." Rattling around in the back of my skull was an anecdote from one of the several Special Forces selection memoirs that I have read (esp 20 or more years ago, but there's a lingering interest). The incident in question is from "The Operators" by one... Continue Reading →
Marram. This is a new word to me, thanks to Sarah Moss, in her rather excellent 2018 work Ghost Wall. According to Wikipedia... Ammophila (synonymous with Psamma P. Beauv.) is a genus of flowering plants consisting of two or three very similar species of grasses. The common names for these grasses include marram grass, bent... Continue Reading →
So, have recently read two books - Blott on the Landscape by Tom Sharpe (I wish I'd read this when I was protesting about Newbury in 1996!) and The Last of the Country House Murders by Emma Tennant (very weird, in a good way. Kind of a cross over between The Year of the Sex... Continue Reading →
At time of writing there are breathless/shell-shocked accounts on the BBC World Service from Dubai, where the 28th "Conference of the Parties" to the UN Climate Convention is entering overtime (they almost always do). It turns out that - despite literally decades of denial and predatory delay - people are still surprised that the oil... Continue Reading →
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 →
In the last couple of weeks we've seen big big protests in Israel about the direction of travel of the state. We've had another IPCC summary report (number 6 in the franchise - the body count ever higher, the deaths more elaborate) and just yesterday Boris Johnson in front of the Privileges Committee. What all... Continue Reading →
There's another new report out, this time based on a survey of 2000 adults (1) that tacitly pins the blame for climate inertia on various forms of 'denial' and delayism. You can read about it on the excellent edie.net website here. I could be wrong, but these sorts surveys and reports seem to get done... Continue Reading →
