Una Nation, Una Way

Today's political debate is extremist and anti-expert, replacing any inclination toward trusting knowledgeable individuals to create nuanced solutions with the requirements that everyone has to have an opinion on everything and everyone's opinion is equally valid. I suspect my thoughts are already relatively well known to readers; however, Una's aren't. So I asked her for …

Air Conditioning Ninja*

No longer will I feel like the bad guy in a Western, when I wear a mask while shopping. Henceforth, thanks to the most wonderful Changes Bristol, I shall feel like a very stylish bad guy in a superhero film. Unfortunately, the masks are made by volunteers from donated materials, so it was pure fortune …

Against the Love of It

In response to last week's post about tearing down statues, Misha Burnett pointed out that positive discrimination denies white males jobs, grants, and other things they are qualified for. And I agree totally with his unstated assumption that it isn't fair to punish white males for the actions of their ancestors, in the same way …

Casting the Last Straw

Imagine you're driving along the road and someone cuts you up. I suspect you at least thought about swearing. Maybe thought about leaning on the horn. Did you think about writing a letter to the newspaper asking people to drive more carefully? Now, imagine you arrive at work and find a parking space, but just …

Virtual Hands Across the Ocean

As someone who works from home, and enjoys books and cats more than parties, I'm used to not seeing friends and relations all the time; however, social distancing is still grating on me so this TED talk about finding meaningful ways to interact interested me. https://www.ted.com/talks/priya_parker_how_to_create_meaningful_connections_while_apart Not all of these will work for everyone: I …

Ethically Dicey?

From lucky socks to not having sex at particular times, hobbies are full of superstitions; and tabletop roleplaying games are no exception. But are they something to be embraced, countered, or just ignored? I'm currently playing in two tabletop games. During the last two sessions of both of them, at least one friend has commented …

Where the Heart Is

As most of you probably know, the (not very) United Kingdom officially left the European Union on Friday. As many of you also probably know, this was not my preferred option. I have plenty of thoughts about it, but perhaps the strongest is irony: those of the Leave camp who are not indulging in triumphalism …

…With More Feeling!

Thoughts on double-plus good writing are double-plus good. This morning, I discovered some notes I'd made years ago, which included this quote from Cliff Seal: "No one has ever been offended by proper grammar or proper sentence structure. No one has ever emailed you to say I really wish you would use six more exclamation …

Twelve Rules for Life in an Uncaring Cosmos

Like many others in the United Kingdom, I hope our new overlords’ actions do bring great benefits to the entire nation. However, as I have mentioned previously, we cannot sit back and expect others to do everything for us. Thus, I thought I would reshare a relevant article on how we might each better prepare ourselves for the future:

Davetopia

All who bear the burden of unholy knowledge know that Yog-Sothoth, the gate and the key, is perceived in congruence, and that the reasoned half of the mind is our protection from horrific truths. Thus, when I encountered a headline about a forthcoming Lovecraftian project and read the producer not as Jordan Peele but as Jordan Peterson, I both quailed at the blasphemous congruence and felt compelled to explore this intersection. I was ill-prepared for the underlying truths revealed in Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life!

1. Stand up straight with your shoulders back: Many unspeakable abominations are hunched, lack shoulders, or even bilateral symmetry. An upright posture that highlights your arms will therefore signal to others that you are likely to be human. Also, focusing on your posture will distract you from your surroundings, reducing the risk of perceiving the incomprehensible.

2. Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping:

View original post 772 more words

Green Shoots of Knowledge

With only a few days to go until the General Election, representatives of some parties are doubling down on the message that they are speaking for the nation. They might genuinely believe they are, but Parliament, the organisation they seek to be part of, isn't one person speaking for everyone, it's many representatives discussing perspectives …