"We" need to do x. "We" need to do y. "We" need to do z, bell the cat, save the world. Who is this "we" you speak of, white man? That's my problem. Any time I hear a sentence with the word "we" in it about how "we" just need to get the right technology-support... Continue Reading →
Of jigsaws and boats without dry-docks – a new friend via Zoom
The "All Our Yesterdays" project is finally working (thanks to all the new followers, btw, and especially those retweeting). By "working" I don't mean fame, fortune, influence, a book contract, podcast interviews, adoring acolytes and groupies (though some of those listed things might be nice). I mean I am in touch with people who have... Continue Reading →
“The Genesis Rock” – New York as Pompeii… #GloriousTrashFiction
No, this book definitely didn't turn up today. Because I am not buying any more books, and anyone who says I am is as honest as Boris Joflyhnson. And don't you dare judge this book by its front cover But maybe its back cover. And the fly-leaf? That's what we're all here for, amirite? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfQWz4gVcP8
What is to be done? Or, “Full Court (De)Press”
The "well, what's your alternative?" question ENRAGES me. Because I have answered it so many times, and the people asking me (almost always) know that I have; they just don't like my answers. These answers would move them out of their comfort zone, decentre them, force them to do (different) hard work. It enrages me... Continue Reading →
We should give our age in ppm. No, hear me out. (I’m 97ppm, btw.)
One thing people don't get about climate change is just how quickly the blanket of C02 is thickening because of our emissions. Sure, there's that Al Gore on his elevator stunt in the film "An Inconvenient Truth." And there's this that shows we are thickening the blanket more and more quickly (because we are burning... Continue Reading →
We need to see what isn’t there
Quick thought, because a) working on an overdue Doctor Who article, b) working on The Job (CCS) and c) have a call imminently with an old friend. So much of what frustrates me about me/social movement organisations comes down to the inability/unwillingness (because it's hard, and if you don't practice, you never get better --... Continue Reading →
Cognitive and Affective Reasons for ‘Deficit of Information’ “Activist” Crap – or “The scraped knee theory of #climate doom”
"CARDIAC" - geddit? Not my most forced backronym ever, but close. So, why do we get stuck in describing problems - like, I dunno, the imminent collapse of the ecosystems that make human civilisation possible, to choose an example entirely at random - endlessly, rather talking about the solutions? Blah blah, yes, belling the cat.... Continue Reading →
“Besides that, how did you enjoy the play, Mrs Lincoln?” – and so it is for climate change: MRDA becomes MLA
President Lincoln was assassinated in early 1865, while watching a play. His wife was with him at the time. It led to the macabre joke in the title above, which "means" roughly "yes, let's pretend not to talk about the horrific things that we both know have happened, and let's make idle chitchat." Or that's... Continue Reading →
Elephants don’t tapdance. And they don’t even do elephant-y things any more. We are so screwed.
Take it as a given that elephants don't tap dance. (They are super smart, and we are a horrible horrible species, busy exterminating them, but you knew thtis). Elephants don't even jump - because, why would they need to? And the elephants, if you don't know me, are one of my favourite metaphors for big,... Continue Reading →
“Isn’t it entropic, I really do think” – or “How Groups Zombify, and what, in theory, was to be done…” #HowGroupsZombify
If you are Really Damn Old you may recognise the song lyric reference in the first half of the title. "Whatever," as the young people used to say. "How Groups Zombify" - HGZ, as we will call it, (but which could also stand for Hypocrites Going Zealous?) is a key question. For me, anyway. Not... Continue Reading →
