The news this morning is distressing, terrifying, even. It is infuriating to read a site like Metafilter where it is viewed so intensely through American eyes that much of the discussion so far is about Democrats being better. As though it matters? As though they are? But I have just read that discussion coming from […]
What I make of Christmas
I will freely admit that I dislike and resent Christmas. I resent how it – and, specifically, one version of it – bulldozes over every other celebration, in almost every part of the world. I hate the consumption that surrounds it. If in the UK, where it is genuinely celebrated, the anxiety and expense around […]
Two shows
In the past two days I have watched episodes from two different TV series and though the audience (I imagine) overlaps substantially, one was repellent to me and the other gripping. The first was something called Rick and Monty, one of the (relatively) new breed of animated television series for adults. It was basically the […]
Graceless
OK, never mind. The detailed judgement has come out and includes the immortal order: We direct the law enforcement agencies to strive their level best to apprehend the fugitive/convict and to ensure that the punishment is inflicted as per law and if found dead, his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad, Pakistan and be […]
Engrossed
So engrossed in work was I yesterday that I completely missed the big news of the day – the verdict against Musharraf and his sentencing. Can’t approve of the death sentence, of course, but this is basically the least likely one to be carried out, ever. But otherwise it is to be celebrated. There must […]
The stupidest idea I have ever heard
Popped onto facebook and, as usual, regretted it, as I was confronted with the usual firehose of stupidity. This time my favourite was undoubtedly a video on reducing plastic by using a shampoo bottle made of soap. So much stupidity.
Old age
Read about a study today, that some sort of DNA analysis suggests that the genetic lifespan of our species is about 37 years. Well, I’m past that now, so clearly on borrowed time. Can’t say it makes one feel much better about those I cared for who died young, but were older than 37.
Filth
What a bloody miserable result. Worse than I could have imagined it. It’s really truly devastating. Brexit now a certainty. Austerity, Tory cruelty to the poorest and weakest. Rising nationalism. Destroying institutions. Institutionalising lying. It’s unbearable to see this tide sweep across the world. What we had was imperfect, but it was not the brutishness […]
Watching the English
Unrelated to anything specific in the past few days, but thinking over the years, just how lacking in compassion the English upper middle classes can be. I am thinking, particularly of things like the huffing and puffing when someone kills themselves by throwing themselves in front of a train. I find it really distasteful how […]
Day of distress
Some distress that it looks like a miserable UK election may occur on a date in December that means something to my family. I have lost all hope of remaining, of a second referendum and of a single market. The best I can hope for is a customs union and an urgent campaign to rejoin. […]