So, this wretched legislation that will send us further down the slippery slope to you-know-what is slithering its way along to inevitable (?) Assent. But if you're anything like me, the finer points of Parliamentary Procedure are hazy (no matter how much I like Chris Mullin's diaries, or rewatch The New Statesman). A very knowledgeable-about-these-things... Continue Reading →
Letter: Council cowardice on scrutiny endangers us all
Submitted- I have good news and bad news for "Observer, M40", the author of a long letter about Manchester council's inaction on fly-tipping (Viewpoints, 3 April). The good news is that he and she can get together with other citizens who are concerned (or exasperated) about the Council's inaction on rubbish, on air quality (see... Continue Reading →
Kenneth Rexroth – “Facing Extinction” (August 18, 1969)
Kenneth Rexroth was a poet, translator, thinker. Wikipedia page here. I have been reading his essays in "The Elastic Retort" and enjoying them enough to have bought another earlier collection (please don't tell Dr Wifey - she thinks I am addicted to books). There's also a bunch of Rexroth's essays online, and this one, from... Continue Reading →
Accelerating transitions: Elon Musk announces Model TIS, says Model MLP not viable
Scholars of socio-technical transitions and transformations were stunned today as entrepreneur and self-appointed “Techno-king” Elon Musk took sides in a long-running academic debate. Speaking from an undisclosed location (rumoured to be somewhere on Earth, but unconfirmed at present), Musk tweeted The tweet has caused equal parts consternation and delight in the sustainability transitions research network,... Continue Reading →
De-lardification. Milestone: 20 percent of my initial body weight gone… more to come?
Well, the fry-up was bloody fantastic. Here's a pic. This was my reward for getting under 120kg. There's a few milestones in that. One is having lost 30kg - 20 per cent of my initial body weight (150kg in October 2019, which meant I was morbidly obese). Apparently losing 20% of your body weight is... Continue Reading →
Patriarchy persists – what’s a man to do?
On opposite sides of the world, women and not-enough-male allies are rightfully and righteously angry about the failures of state actors to act – at all or enough – around women being raped and murdered. The facts of the UK case is relatively straightforward. On March 2nd a young white woman, Sarah Everard, was kidnapped... Continue Reading →
George Whitman of Shakespeare and Company
A long long time ago (okay, 1988) I stayed at Shakespeare and Co as one of the tumbleweeds. One of my abiding memories is as pillion passenger on George Whitman's motorbike as we went to somewhere in a posh arrondisement for - well, it may have been bookbuying? Anyway, my life flashed before me once... Continue Reading →
The emotional labour that “the Other” is forced to do… #AbsolutionServicesSyndrome
It must be seriously exhausting being on the receiving end of patriarchy, white supremacy, classism etc. It must take up insane amounts of mental energy, dealing with the daily insults, microaggressions, threats to physical safety etc. It's what Toni Morrison says about distraction.- “The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps... Continue Reading →
Patriarchy and sexual violence. From complicity to resistance
Content warning: discussion of rape, suicide, complicity. I knew the woman who is at the centre of the allegations of rape against the Attorney-General of Australia, Christian Porter (allegations he denies). Her family have asked for her not to be named, and although her name is now circulating in corners of the Internet, their wishes... Continue Reading →
Don’t budge from the budget. The responsibility of intellectuals yet again
We need to put front and centre the fact that we've blown our (carbon) budget. “We're massively off target we're massively behind.” We know that those who run official events are not going to say it front and centre (at absolute best they might mutter it under their breath while making sure that their microphone... Continue Reading →
