@Flick 🏴
New Spinsters: I’m not going to follow back until you post a bit.
Wider Fedi: I’m not going to follow back if you post too much and don’t actually interact.
Relays (1)
- wss://relay.ditto.pub – read & write
Recent Notes
I’m on a post-apocalyptic cosy cat kick rn, and I remembered enjoying the TV series Jericho so I paid actual money for it on Amazon and there are no bloody subtitles.
It had subtitles the first time I watched it, for free, on Amazon.
Grr.
It had subtitles the first time I watched it, for free, on Amazon.
Grr.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/09/27/the-eus-anti-democracy-shield/
This is a breathtaking attack on democracy. After all, democracy rests on the presumption that citizens are morally and intellectually capable of engaging with competing arguments, judging them and deciding for themselves. Controlling the epistemic environment in which those citizens form their judgements runs counter to that presumption. Citizens are now regarded and treated less as autonomous political subjects than as vulnerable inhabitants of a dangerous information environment. They therefore require continuous protection, monitoring and management.
The decisive struggle over free speech in Europe is no longer merely about what people are legally permitted to say. It is now about something broader – namely, who decides what Europeans are most likely to see, whom they are encouraged to trust and which ideas are classified as risks. The fight for free speech has reached a pivotal point in Europe.
This is a breathtaking attack on democracy. After all, democracy rests on the presumption that citizens are morally and intellectually capable of engaging with competing arguments, judging them and deciding for themselves. Controlling the epistemic environment in which those citizens form their judgements runs counter to that presumption. Citizens are now regarded and treated less as autonomous political subjects than as vulnerable inhabitants of a dangerous information environment. They therefore require continuous protection, monitoring and management.
The decisive struggle over free speech in Europe is no longer merely about what people are legally permitted to say. It is now about something broader – namely, who decides what Europeans are most likely to see, whom they are encouraged to trust and which ideas are classified as risks. The fight for free speech has reached a pivotal point in Europe.
It’s cold and raining, a bit, and we are heading away from home!
I really do think that the injections are working.
I really do think that the injections are working.
Going on the wishlist. Hebs, I’ll send it up once read!
https://spectator.com/article/the-myth-of-authentic-english-food/
There were two butcher’s pork pies in my bag that also contained a copy of Lewis Bassett’s The Full English. As I began reading this investigation into the story of English food, having those pies on my person felt particularly in keeping with the English culinary tradition. By the time I’d finished the book, I was not so sure.
https://spectator.com/article/the-myth-of-authentic-english-food/
There were two butcher’s pork pies in my bag that also contained a copy of Lewis Bassett’s The Full English. As I began reading this investigation into the story of English food, having those pies on my person felt particularly in keeping with the English culinary tradition. By the time I’d finished the book, I was not so sure.
https://spectator.com/article/just-stop-asylum/
What relationship does a host country court with would-be citizens when the first procedure which applicants go through invites contempt? When they’ve pulled the wool over officialdom’s eyes and accessed resources that their own countries would never in a million years provide to foreigners who broke the law and had the chutzpa to do so with hands out? Both successful and failed-yet-undeported ‘asylum seekers’ have good reason to surmise that locals are weak, gullible and dim, with unlimited funds open to exploitation. And on the receiving end, does any country benefit from attracting liars and opportunists?
The answer is not to tighten the system but to scrap it.
What relationship does a host country court with would-be citizens when the first procedure which applicants go through invites contempt? When they’ve pulled the wool over officialdom’s eyes and accessed resources that their own countries would never in a million years provide to foreigners who broke the law and had the chutzpa to do so with hands out? Both successful and failed-yet-undeported ‘asylum seekers’ have good reason to surmise that locals are weak, gullible and dim, with unlimited funds open to exploitation. And on the receiving end, does any country benefit from attracting liars and opportunists?
The answer is not to tighten the system but to scrap it.
I do not get close to spending £43.50 a week on food!
https://spectator.com/article/the-strange-world-of-professional-mourners/
MournMate is a new online market-place that promises to connect bereaved families and funeral homes with professional mourners in the US. It was advertising for its first ‘500 Founding Members’ when I looked, and, curious to know what it was all about, I signed up.
The qualifications and requirements were surprisingly broad – the site was looking for actors, musicians, public speakers, eulogy writers, and anyone with experience of religious or cultural ceremonies. The advertised rate was $25 to $300 an hour, with an extra 50 per cent for emergency bookings. Grief, it seems, has joined the gig economy.
MournMate is a new online market-place that promises to connect bereaved families and funeral homes with professional mourners in the US. It was advertising for its first ‘500 Founding Members’ when I looked, and, curious to know what it was all about, I signed up.
The qualifications and requirements were surprisingly broad – the site was looking for actors, musicians, public speakers, eulogy writers, and anyone with experience of religious or cultural ceremonies. The advertised rate was $25 to $300 an hour, with an extra 50 per cent for emergency bookings. Grief, it seems, has joined the gig economy.
https://spectator.com/article/i-like-a-good-hypocrite/
I’ve always admired Diane Abbott, though admittedly only for one thing. Many years ago the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington campaigned against private schools. As a good socialist this comes as part of the ideological package, and Abbott was more than happy to join in the class war against parents who are in a position to educate their children outside the state system.
However, as some readers might remember, when it came to her own school choice Ms Abbott looked around the local state schools and decided that none of them was good enough for her own progeny. So she sent her son to the City of London School, a private school for boys. Confronted with this hypocrisy, Abbott did the sole thing that I admire her for. She admitted that the double–standard she had been caught in was indeed ‘indefensible’. She was a hypocrite. She admitted it and moved on.
I’ve always admired Diane Abbott, though admittedly only for one thing. Many years ago the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington campaigned against private schools. As a good socialist this comes as part of the ideological package, and Abbott was more than happy to join in the class war against parents who are in a position to educate their children outside the state system.
However, as some readers might remember, when it came to her own school choice Ms Abbott looked around the local state schools and decided that none of them was good enough for her own progeny. So she sent her son to the City of London School, a private school for boys. Confronted with this hypocrisy, Abbott did the sole thing that I admire her for. She admitted that the double–standard she had been caught in was indeed ‘indefensible’. She was a hypocrite. She admitted it and moved on.
Couldn’t get my bubble and squeak to catch :(
Just had my godmother on the phone: they’re in the area and had thought they’d drop in to see my mum, but she’s not answering the phone.
Given that she’s on holiday, they’re coming to see me instead.
Time to tidy!
Given that she’s on holiday, they’re coming to see me instead.
Time to tidy!