Nowadays, the internet sometimes feels like a once well-to-do neighbourhood that became a slum after an industrial park & motorway were built through it. And I'm the lifelong resident who refuses to leave, unable to accept that the decaying, now unsafe area will never regain its former grandeur.

Increasingly, after reading about the latest oligarch or billionaire tech-bros travesty, I find myself idly researching the cultural and social history of guillotines.

I'm sitting in bed reading Charlie Brown Coronet paperbacks like it's 1978.
#peanuts

Back in the mid-20th century, they predicted we'd be living in a utopia by now. And they were right, we are. The only detail they omitted was that it's a sociopath's idea of a utopia.

Anthropic: "AI may pose 'existential risks to humanity'"
World governments: "Extinction is such a hot market right now, and we want a fat piece of that mouth-waterin' extinction pie for ourselves! Invest everything we have in AI!"

Only in Switzerland. Workmen having a cheeky fondue by the side of the road over the weekend. Identities obscured to protect the peckish.

Britain doesn't change. I'm rereading Sherlock Holmes. It's 1887 and the Daily Telegraph speculates that a murder must have been perpetrated by refugees or socialists, and advocates a closer watch over foreigners, while the Standard blames such outrages on a liberal government. It's in the national blood, isn't it? A Study in Red, White & Blue.

What all #Meta product announcements look like to me by now.
#charm #muse

Climate protester with "I oppose this" placard [70 years in prison].

Corner shop owner with similar business name to a global tech firm [Sued for $19b].

Masked thug with illegal weapons endangering lives; and global tech firm with string of serious copyright, environmental, data & hacking violations ["Boys will be boys"].

LinkedIn: "You've been invited by [someone you met once 30 years ago, and no, they didn't really personally invite you] to the daily puzzle challenge. It's YOUR move now".
Such cringing attempts at fabricating engagement. Apps and sites have become so wretchedly, panderingly needy.

Channel 4's ADHD Myth documentary. Not sure we need to heed a psychiatrist who a) doesn't specialise in ADHD b) is a Daily Mail columnist c) Poses for photos with a stethoscope as if needing to *prove* he's a doctor (how many shrinks do you see using stethoscopes? It's a performative facade of authority)

Helen of Troy was born from an egg as a result of her father turning into a swan (or goose) and mating with her mother, who may have been either Leda or Nemesis.
And let's not forget the 6-headed, 12-footed Scylla, and the half-bird, half-human sirens.
I look forward to all the hiSToRICle aCCuraSSy.