Dear self, when you give money away, even if it is to good causes, it is still using said money. That is why you have less money this month. You muppet.

I'm excited! I haven't been to the cinema for ages because so little sparks my interest in their most recent offerings. Last things I saw were the extended Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King

Awwww yis. Ticket acquired for Project Hail Mary tomorrow.

"Young men who dress to feel they'll be mistaken for having special capability. A species of cosplay, really. En-demic. Lots of boys are playing soldier now. The men who run the world aren't, and neither are the boys most effectively bent on running it next. Or the ones who're actually having to be soldiers, of course. But many of the rest have gone gear-queer, to one extent or another." "'Gear-queer?" Bigend's teeth showed. "We had a team of cultural anthropologists interview American soldiers returning from Iraq. That's where we first heard it. It's not wholly derogatory, mind you. There are actual professionals who genuinely require these things—some of them, anyway. Though they generally seem to be far less fascinated with them. But it's that fascination that interests us, of course." "It is?" "It's an obsession with the idea not just of the right stuff, but of the special stuff. Equipment fetishism. The costume and semiotics of achingly elite police and military units. Intense desire to possess same, of course, and in turn to be associated with that world. With its compe-tence, its cocksure exclusivity." "Sounds like fashion, to me." «Exactly. Pants, but only just the right ones. We could never have engineered so powerful a locus of consumer desire. It's like sex in a bottle."

anyway here’s @greatdismal.bsky.social in 2011 in Zero History describing the obsession with tactical clothing as a fetishized pursuit in a way that perfectly nails the combat cosplay of modern day ICE and BPD

He's a cruel, petty, vindictive bully and he always has been. Now it's just playing out on a national and international scale.

Conclusion: Pretty show and very in keeping with Austen's vibe, but I remember why I never really cared much about the Austen ladies. "If I don't marry I'll have to [gasp] get a job" 🤣 I'm much more Bronte-inclined. Jane Eyre is my stubborn, determined favourite.

Disabled benefit claimants face lower payments if conditions not deemed lifelong, charities say Forthcoming rules mean debilitating conditions may not meet strict ‘severe and lifelong’ eligibility criteria, say disabled people’s organisations

Hundreds of thousands of disabled people will have their benefit almost halved if the government assesses their condition might one day improve. Charities warn the move could cause large-scale hardship, including “destitution.”

My report in tomorrow’s Guardian: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Trans Girl Inclusion in Girl Guides Inclusive Exclusion V Australia Finland / New Zealand Norway / Canada Iceland V USA V Denmark V Ireland France V Belgium Germany V Netherlands Italy X United Kingdom

Starmer’s Britain: transphobic AF.

To be very clear, Starmer is responsible for the exclusion of trans girls from the Guides and Brownies; he could have overturned the “Supreme” Court misjudgement and refused to do so.

Illinois is poised to be the second state to allow plug-in solar which means that anyone can hook solar into their home/apartment/whatever without installation. This is a big deal. capitolnewsillinois.com/news/lawmake...

Early 20th c political cartoon depicting suffragettes as dowdy middle-aged women

In all seriousness though, elder millennial jokes aside, I think it’s important to resist the media framing of any mainstream resistance to the status quo as just the shrill nonsense of middle-aged women with nothing better to do. This isn’t the first time they’ve run out this playbook.

A really cute and basic cartoon of the Protest Frog inflatable's face, wearing a revolutionary era white wig tied with a gold bow. He's inside a circle with the words around him GIVE ME RIBBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH

I'm sorry I don't recall who to credit for this, I have it saved to my phone.

But I love this, and them.

It has been decreed that today is a potato day and I shall watch The Other Bennet sister, even if the awkwardness and second-hand embarrassment is sometimes overpowering.

Ministers explore triggering break clause in Palantir’s NHS contract Government is under pressure to eject the controversial American company from NHS England data systems

That UK government ever considers asserting its contractual rights against a major supplier is rare and welcome.

And here, this is especially welcome.

This will not be easy but it can be done, but it is good it is being seriously considered at all.

www.ft.com/content/2d2b...

"a senior staff member felt the library’s ‘Life 101’ section (where Emily kept books for school leavers) was inappropriate, 'based on the association with the television program Room 101'. They were seemingly oblivious to Room 101’s origins in Orwell’s Nineteen-Eighty-Four."

LAPD officers arrest a protester dressed as the Statue of Liberty outside a federal building during a ‘Kings Day’ protest. (Connor Sheets/Los Angeles Times)

A remarkable photo from #NoKings in DTLA from Connor Sheets of @latimes.com www.latimes.com/california/l...

It's wild that it was nearly 20c a week or so ago and now this again

A dramatic sunset photo with the sky in shades of orange, purples and cream, the sun a hazy yellow orb above a purple island just to the right of the frame. To the left, the silhouette of a ruined castle is visible on a cliff and the reflection of the sunset is shimmering on the wave sheened rocky beach

Today's #picoftheday is the ruin of Greenan castle in Scotland at sunset

Absolutely dreich day here. Not really giving the incentive to get out of my toasty jimjams and fleecy dressing gown

Jobby is an impossible word to use in that context in Scotland and makes me snigger like a small child 🤣 Oh you've started taking leisurely dumps to pass the time? How's that working out for you?

Yeah, we had similar problems with the scheduling for TWC last year because it was the weekend of the change in Scotland XD

Ugh. Daylight savings for this side of the pond tonight. Do not want. Couldn't they have pushed it back a bit and done it over the easter break?

A Little Restraint Fyre Chapter 125: Captain Kneebow

Little treat for the weekend :)
archiveofourown.org/works/542974...
#OFMD #OFMDfic

I'll be honest, even if I tried, I suspect that publisher is dead in the water. I left 'em when they'd stopped being able to pay authors for months on end.

Alas, not so much. They were indie publishers and it was hidden in the small print that I should have copyrighted it all myself. Those teeny tiny fonts, that's where they catch you out.

Finding that out was a proper kick in the teeth :(

That one that ripped off all the books ripped off four of my novels :( And I don't even get entitled to any of the potential compensation because my then-publisher decided not to bother with copyrighting stuff.

Half a million strong. Together.

The biggest march against the far-right in British history.

Where do they think AI stole them from? 😩 Train it on my nonsense and it will have my nonsense and quirks and tricks and turns of phrase all over it. Stupid bandit system.

a tumblr post with a user named bvckbiter writing "is this character good or bad" "is this shop unproblematic or not" "is this arc deserving of redemption or not" girl... underneath it is a screenshot from the show shōgun of a character saying "i don't have time for this christian nonsense"

How I feel reading 99% of art and media critique these days

Me: maybe we just shouldn’t sex segregate sports.

Cis women: but then women will never win at anything

Me: Why do you think that?

Cis women: *listing all the ways they think women are biologically inferior to men*

Me: Ah, misogyny, got it.