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[personal profile] spiralsheep
- The nation state of Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Palestine continues.

- In the UK there continue to be large peaceful pro-Palestinian protests, including a march in Edinburgh attended by thousands of supporters.

- Led By Donkeys released a video explaining that the "charity" UK Lawyers for Israel hosted a far-right Israeli MP who has subsequently been sanctioned by the UK government for supporting genocide, and that the uncharitable wing of UK Lawyers for Israel continues to use vexatious legal bullying to attempt to erase Palestinian culture from multicultural Britain including shutting down a children's kite-making meeting by claiming it was akin to terrorism. Some people would call this "ethnic cleansing" and "cultural genocide" of Palestinians. A previous mention of vexatious claims by Lawyers for Israel that failed to remove a public art work.

- Led By Donkeys previously made
a 6min video about intentional destruction of our right to peaceful protest in the UK by authoritarian politicians such as Keith Starmer (who is handing the next election to Farage on a plate complete with fascist garnishes).

- In the UK over 220 people have now been arrested and could be imprisoned for 14 years as "terrorists" for holding signs saying things such as, "genocide in Palestine, time to take action" and "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine action".

- One woman in Kent was threatened with arrest by armed police for standing in public displaying the sign "Free Gaza" with a Palestinian flag: "It’s terrifying, I was standing there thinking, this is the most authority, authoritarian, dystopian experience I’ve had in this country, being told that I’m committing terrorist offences by two guys with firearms." The police officers are on vid saying, "We could have jumped out, arrested you, dragged you off in a van." Kent Police issued a statement supporting the illegal actions of their armed fascist officers.

- Multiple legal British organisations with "Palestine" or "Palestinian" in their names have had their bank accounts frozen by multiple banks with no explanation. Some of these orgs send aid to Gaza, amongst other legal activities.

- Article, posted here for archiving purposes, from Scottish newspaper The National:

I'm a journalist covering Palestine Action arrests. This is all absurd.
By Laura Webster, 18th July

archive )

None of it makes any sense to me, or our team.

The people doing the killing and destroying face no consequences. The people raising the alarm are taken away in handcuffs.

I wonder how many arrests our reporters will witness before the UK decides to take real action against Israel? 

If this really is the new normal, Scotland shouldn't have anything to do with it.

I'm a journalist covering Palestine Action arrests. This is all absurd. (Link to The National)

note )
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[personal profile] spiralsheep
You can imagine this Friday Five set to the Thunderbirds theme if you like. :-)

5. Name five favourite movies.
Tremors. And then watching Tremors four more times.
I'm not rly into films, except film festivals that give me insights into Other people's lives. I'm more of a book person.

4. Name four areas of interest you became interested in after you were done with your formal education.
Not after but aside from the usual primary to tertiary educational course:
Ethical philosophy, palaeontology, geology, botany, and entomology.
If we count school history as bleeding into archaeology, and English literature as a springboard to poetry even though we didn't study poetry beyond a couple of war poems.

3. Name three things you would change about this world.
Setting aside sensible answers, as everyone already knows we need to redistribute wealth through taxation, tackle climate change and environmental degradation, end wars, and improve human health....
Here are my spur of the moment trivial desires:
a. Clouds are fabulous but don't you get a bit bored with blue skies all the time? Isn't this why people enjoy transient optical phenomena such as rainbows and sundogs &c so much? Maybe one day a week the sky could be a random colour? Nothing too dark or bright, just pastel pink or patchwork greens or polkadots on the blue?
b. Compulsory feeding stations for blood-sucking insects. Honestly, I'd donate to a blood bank to stop the little menaces injecting me with their toxins and allergens. Also, no more mosquito or tick diseases for humans and dogs, which is surely worth the effort?
c. Everyone gets one disability redacted if they please, after a month of time for consideration. I just want to be able to eat food like a normal human. Also, you can give your one redaction away but it just disappears into a general pool which is infallibly distributed on the basis of need. This idea needs work but basically I just selfishly want to be able to go out or go away and eat whatever is put in front of me instead of having to fuss.

2. Name two of your favourite childhood toys.
The countryside. My friends.

1. Name one person you could be handcuffed to for a full day.
Are you 'king kidding me?! I can barely cope with a cannula!

0. And your good selves? Meme me, memsaabs.

Stewardship

Jul. 15th, 2025 11:20 pm
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[personal profile] tcpip
Several years ago, I was visited by John August of the Pirate Party as I was hosting a special dinner for visitors, and he watched with keen interest as I put together a four-course French dinner with paired drinks, music, and a multi-layered laminated menu. "You have a very organised mind", he observed kindly. Cue last Friday, and I find myself in the company of Liza D., at a multi-narrative arthouse theatrical production, "Art, War, and Other Catastrophes". It was quite an interesting show, with unexpected convergence of the past (hello Helen!) afterwards, with our discussion venturing to a slightly wayward younger friend and my consistent efforts to encourage their intellectual insight. "You would make a good father", Liza remarked, which is probably one of the nicest things that one could say to a man of my vintage. Between the two events, a moment burned in my mind is Karl B., discussing life-skills referred to what he called "shit-togetherness", the ability to manage everything from one's own mental states, to personal and household budgets, to community groups, and beyond. Karl was expressing some concern that many don't seem to acquire this skill and knowledge until their thirties, if at all.

I suggested to Karl (inspired by the skill in the Pendragon RPG, no less) that the most appropriate term was "stewardship". The word, from Old English (stigweard) itself, originally means "hall guardian". It has semi-religious overtones as well, an trend in the Judeo-Christian tradition that represents an active and responsible engagement with the environment, a point I strenously made in an address to the Unitarian Church some eight years ago, and one which our political and economic leaders have manifestly failed; we are supposed to "serve the garden in which we have been placed" (Genesis 2:15). There is a grim irony that an rational atheist and emotional pantheist finds himself appealing to Biblical verse when our nominal leaders profess a faith that they do not seem to even aspire to practise. But of course, there are very profound secular reasons as well why stewardship is the right noun to describe human interaction with our environment, rather than a protectionist laissez-faire or indifferent exploitation.

Stewardship most of all entails a sense of responsibility. Starting from oneself, it entails a sense that one will not engage in self-sabotating behaviour and put effort in making the best use of one's mind ("the mind is a terrible thing to waste") and time ("Life is short, death is long, use your time wisely"). Extended to households, whether shared or singular, it means being responsible for creating an home that is both stimulating and a sanctuary, and extended to the social world, to paraphrase Hannah Arendt, it is engagement in the public realm where social freedom, through action and dialogue, becomes manifest, within the context of the natural world as a whole. Ultimately, stewardship is the responsible and ethical planning and management of resources, whether personal, social, or environmental, and as Lamb pointed out, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. How careless are our rulers! As Frankl remarked, without responsibility, freedom degenerates into arbitrary whims, these rampaging childish pathological monsters who crush others underfoot with their indifference.
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[personal profile] spiralsheep
- "Terrorism": having difficulty comprehending that I live in a time when Labour leader Keir Starmer and his starmtroopers have decided to crimialise peaceful protest as "terrorism", including 100 or so people from across the UK arrested and facing 14 years in prison each as "terrorists" because they held up marker-pen-on-cardboard signs reading "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."

People holding handwritten cardboard signs reading, "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."

- Decided to celebrate something I love everyday.
9: The clouds I saw from a peak hour traffic jam were fabulously fluffy cumulus sky-sheep.
10: Wizo the Fleming. His name. And his son Walter fitzWizo. Both C12th. That is all. P.S. Pembrokeshire Council have wisely decreed the creation of a Wizo Trail for cyclists.
11: 7.30am tuneful recorder playing in an otherwise silent neighbourhood (no cars). I'm imagining an enchanting Good Neighbour of the faerie folk, but around here it was probably a bearded old hippie, lol.
11: a female Large (Cabbage) White butterfly, Pieris brassicae, flew across in front of my face then perched on the hedge next to my head so I could observe it about a hand length away, and note its wing patterns and antennae colours in detail.
11 bonus: my front lawn was suddenly full of happy, laughing, shrieking, playing people (mostly young). Get ON my lawn! Curtains were closed so I didn't twitch them to find out if anyone was in dress-up but there are usually one or two.
12: brief visitation in my home by a large patterned brown moth that was one of those "why aren't day-flying moths called butterflies?" beauties.
13: just laying in bed very early this morning, half-awake, and knowing I didn't have to get up. Mmm.

- Birb log: whenever I see the new taxonomy for Jackdaws I think about that redditor who people mocked for years for saying Jackdaws weren't crows / Corvus or whatever it was they said.

Birb log  )
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[personal profile] spiralsheep
The real Salt Path (link to The Observer): how a blockbuster book and film were spun from lies, deceit and desperation.

The Salt Path-ological liar, The Wild Lies, and Landlies )

Most importantly, to me, disabled people suffer collateral damage from both aspects of her fraud: firstly by being told they could do x or y if only they had as much willpower as Walker's fictional character with CBS/CBD, then secondly from the assumption that many disabled people are frauds like Walker. I'm betting she'll continue to profit from her crimes while her victims, intended and indirect, suffer for her choices. (I also feel sympathy for the Walker children and hope they avoid being dragged into this.)

ETA 13 July 2025: Observer article about a further Walker scam I've quoted salient extracts in a comment below.
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[personal profile] spiralsheep
I've been trawling historical documents and caught some very fishy bait. Partly because I was asked about connections between the Greyfriars aka the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor and Greyfriars house aka no.9 Friar Street, Worcester. This tale of devilry, from 1535 in the reign of Henry VIII, is from two surviving fragments of correspondence that were brought to the personal attention of Thomas Cromwell - his handwriting is on the back.

A connection beyond probably being neighbours is that a witness claimed one of the Friars Minor, 'Dr' Hanedon, confessed to the attempted murder of his neighbour living at no.9, Thomas Twesell. The confession, possibly while drunk, was in front of innkeeper Nicholas Mokoke of the Cardinal's Hat inn / tavern in Worcester. Hanedon was being investigated by Cromwell's auditors for 'vicious living', and being 'to the evil example of all Christian people', when he attempted to murder wealthy local civic dignitary (and Cromwell's auditor?) Thomas Twesell by gathering a gang of fellow friars to accost Twesell in the street and stab him with a 'dagger' on the feast of the Conversion of St Paul (25 Jan). The friars reputedly cried off because Twesell was accompanied by his servant (i.e. an armed man and potential witness).

Anne Mokoke (Moorcock?), the daughter of the Cardinal's Hat innkeeper, testified that Hanedon ~neither feared God nor the shame of the world~, and there are two separately witnessed accounts of him trying to seduce unwilling women, including the partially successful abduction of a married woman to a brothel! The Friary itself is referred to by the letter's author as 'more like a house of vicious and incontinent living than a religious place.'

Note that all this evidence gathering was to a particular purpose as the Dissolution of the Monasteries happened 1536-41, however even the 'marshal' of the prior of Worcester seems to have been willing to testify (£?) against Hanedon for the abduction. All very suspect: trust nobody!!1!! Except goodwife Anne who was correct that the whole business is extremely unedifying from beginning to end.

/dispatches from C16th

China Events, Future Travels

Jul. 10th, 2025 08:29 pm
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[personal profile] tcpip
Two nights ago, the Chinese consulate in Melbourne hosted a dinner for committee members of the Australia-China Friendship Society. It was held with no particular agenda in mind, but with less than ten people participating in the wide-ranging conversation, as one could expect, it did include a rather pointed look at a certain powerful but irresponsible world leader. The Consul-General was, of course, very diplomatic in his words and I could be a little more blunt (ironically, through understatements), but that is our respective positions. It was also an opportunity to send our farewells to the Vice Consul General who has served here for four years and welcome their replacement, who I am sure will do very well. On a directly related matter, the following night I attended the spectacular "Folk Reimagined" concert at the Melbourne Recital Centre, which was performed by members of the Guizhou Chinese Orchestra and the Australia Orchestra, which was a rather brilliant performance. I attended with Susie C., an old friend from Perth who has recently moved to Melbourne, and Fiona P., who recently spoke at the ACFS on bi-cultural experiences and history. On a much more modest scale, the Australia-China Friendship Society is holding a social dinner next Tuesday at Song's Dumplings; delicious food, inexpensive, and very good company.

As much as I would dearly love to visit Guizhou as soon as possible with its incredible landscapes (there is a very enticing trip on offer in early 2026), it is increasingly likely that I am going on a more distant (and much more expensive) adventure at the end of the year. Kate R., and I are plotting (following plenty of conversation over three extensive visits to the National Gallery of Victoria over three days) about taking a trip to South America and Antarctica at the end of the year, which would include Lima, Machu Picchu, Buenos Aires (where I can satiate my Jose Luis Borge needs), Tierra del Fuego, the Antarctic peninsula, and Montevideo. All of this is, somewhat, a result of having accumulated long-service leave (which I skipped in my last job to take this current one) and a dearth of international travel in my youth, albeit with a few interstate visits. Speaking of which, a quick trip to the top-end is planned in a month to visit Lara D., check out the apartment I helped purchase, and attend some events of the Darwin Festival.
rydra_wong: Lee Miller photo showing two women wearing metal fire masks in England during WWII. (Default)
[personal profile] rydra_wong
Especially while it's at 75% off in the sale, making it 62p:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/406150/Refunct/

For anyone who might want to sample some easy platforming with a very very low entry threshold.

Chill and rather lovely environment (okay, probably depends on you liking brutalist architecture, but still -- there's a day-night cycle! there's sunshine! the water is gorgeous! the music is gentle!) with no time pressure and no penalties for failing a jump hundreds of times (except that, at worst, you fall in the water and have to swim about and haul yourself out again).

N.B. Most reviews describe this as a half-hour game, and there are achievements for speedrunning it in under 8 minutes or under 4 minutes.

It took me over five hours of playtime to beat it, which should be indicative of the co-ordination and skill levels I'm working with here. And yet it did not at any point feel stressful or humiliating for me. It felt like a pleasant, relaxing environment in which to fail repeatedly and experiment.

It started at a level low enough that I could manage it, and then had a really satisfying difficulty curve. If I was stalling on the next objective, I could still run and parkour round the environment purely for fun (and sometimes ended up working out how to pick off the optional achievements in the process).

Towards the very end, I started to think that the last jumps might just flat-out exceed the limits of what I am currently capable of, and it felt like if that did happen, I would still be able to walk away pretty happily having already got way more than 62p's worth of enjoyment out of it.

Will absolutely be playing it again.

Profile

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jennifergearing

May 2011

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About Jen

A 20-something fat, queer woman of colour living in Australia.

Reading: Fond of speculative and YA fiction, social justice theory in various forms. Would love to see more rounded fat/queer/female/of colour (and multiples of the above) characters in fiction.

Writing: Sometimes blogs at Hoyden About Town, dabbles in fiction now and then, hoping to find her creativity again.

Watching: Fond of sci-fi/fantasy television, with a strange weakness for cop shows. Would love to see more rounded fat/queer/female/of colour (and multiples of the above) characters on television.