David Robinson

I am the ghost of Christmas Future Perfect Subjunctive; I will show you what would have happened were you not to have changed your ways.

Just got back from the doctor's. The bad news is that tests have revealed I have Onomatopoeia.
Naturally concerned, I asked, 'What's that?'
'I'm afraid,' he replied, looking up from his notes with a serious expression. 'It's exactly what it sounds like.'

John Kerrigan · No Illusions: Syntax of Slavery Slavery was accepted across most of the early modern world. No one wanted to be a slave, except when the alternative was...

‘Liverpool went from having a single slave ship in 1709 to more than a hundred six decades later. By 1795 it controlled almost half of the European slave trade.’

John Kerrigan on Atlantic slavery:

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

All good, thanks.

That was a very nice piece of chemistry, Andy. I remember it well.

“America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the American humorist Kin Hubbard, 'It ain’t no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be.' It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: 'if you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?' There will also be an American flag no larger than a child’s hand – glued to a lollipop stick and flying from the cash register. Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say Napoleonic times. Many novelties have come from America. The most startling of these, a thing without precedent, is a mass of undignified poor. They do not love one another because they do not love themselves.”

reading slaughterhouse 5 for the first time and i was absolutely knocked senseless by this passage, which is so true and relevant that it feels like it was pulled from a history book

Sadiq Khan condemns Nigel Farage's threat to deport hundreds of thousands of Londoners with settled status.

“They have legal rights and are our friends, neighbours and colleagues, contributing hugely to our city.

“Threatening to deport people living and working here legally is unacceptable.”

Image of water distribution across the United Kingdom, demonstrating most rainfall happens along the western coast and Scotland. The image is by Alasdair Rae

3D depiction of rainfall distribution across Great Britain.

England is a very dry place: London gets as much rain as Jerusalem.

With climate change, the south will need to prepare for even more acute water shortages.

Also. "The only people I like talking to are scientists. You know why? Scientists are the only people who will say 'I don't know' when you ask them a question. Everyone else will start talking. After a couple of minutes you have to stop them and say the correct answer is 'I don't know'.

By the way, I noticed Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves is on BBC iPlayer for the next few months. Lovely little film. Deadpan humour, understated and poignant. I recommend, if you haven’t seen it.

Completely agree. I’ve been a local gov journalist for 12 years and have reported on the fall of local government in that time. It’s had a massive impact on the fabric of our society, on what makes our communities work. It’s about more than just bins and roads, it’s about a sense of place and pride.

The forgotten half of scientific thinking | PNAS The forgotten half of scientific thinking

“The idea that taking walks, reading things unrelated to your research, and hanging out with strangers in a campus pub should be considered part of the serious process of thinking, but might well meet with skepticism in practice.”

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

YouTube video by Science Communication Lab The Most Beautiful Experiment: Meselson and Stahl

Just learned that Frank Stahl (of the Meselson and Stahl DNA replication experiment ("the most beautiful experiment in biology") died at the beginning of April, to no fanfare. Here's a lovely video of them reminiscing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-tn...

Reading this incredible book and realising why the late great Penny Reel wrote about reggae in the voice of Damon Runyon: because the world of Kingston sound systems is like Runyon's world of big characters, guns and absurdity.

An enthusiastic Chabrol in conversation. He's holding a cigarette, and wearing a scarf around his neck.

"Stupidity is infinitely more fascinating that intelligence. Intelligence has its limits while stupidity has none."
- Claude Chabrol

📷 Nancy R. Schiff, 1980

YouTube video by Cagliostro Video Good vibrations | Love & Mercy

Here’s Paul Dano as Wilson putting together Good Vibrations in an exhilarating scene about the creative process from the underrated Love & Mercy: youtu.be/aUIpP7KUmeQ?...

Daniel Trilling · Is this fascism? As the historian Ian Kershaw says, trying to define fascism is ‘like trying to nail jelly to a wall’, yet for all...

‘Are​ we, as Richard Seymour suggests, “in the early days of a new fascism”? In 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮, Seymour argues that in trying to understand the new far right, we have been looking in the wrong places.’

@trillingual.bsky.social on far-right populism: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Title: SOME GRAMMATICAL VOICES FOR USE IN SCIENTIFIC WRITING ACTIVE VOICE e.g. Our team collected samples and then we tested them. CLICKBAIT VOICE e.g. We collected some samples... You won't believe what happened next! PASSIVE VOICE e.g. Samples were collected and tested. HAIKU VOICE e.g. Quiet science lab. Workers arrive with samples. The testing begins. PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE VOICE e.g. We did all the collecting and testing. No need to thank us. Just doing our job. CONSPIRACY VOICE e.g. Mysterious "Samples" were harvested and covertly "tested" by so-called scientists.

My latest @newscientist.com cartoon

Fraser MacDonald · On Compost I sometimes wonder whether my love of compost is a response to the dispiriting cleanness of modern life – the spray’...

Things I learned recently:

* Edinburgh’s seaweed is collected and dumped in landfill because it is too contaminated with wet wipes to be composted.

* Most packaging labelled ‘compostable’ is not usually compostable.

Non-Lookalike: John, Paul, George & Ringo; and Joe, Paul, Barry & Harrison

From the latest Private Eye, in shops now.

Street sign in Oak Bay: Quixote Lne. Underneath, another sign: No Exit

So I have two choices: Cervantes or Sartre?

Donald Trump’s unhinged & hate-filled Easter message.

He’s got away with untold crimes, lies & offences. He’s achieved the highest office in the land. Twice. He’s lining his pockets on an industrial scale & persecuting his enemies for fun. But he’s still a miserable, bitter, humourless & furious man. Because deep inside, he knows *exactly* who he is.

He's right of course.

The pages of the Telegraph, the Spectator, GBNews, right-wing "thinktanks" are increasingly dominated by bigots and racists like Murray whose reasoning and objectives are no different from the BNP of the 1990s.

James Meek · ‘Everything is possible’: In Greenland The immediate effect of Trump’s menaces, and the visit to Nuuk in January of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, was to...

‘Away from the politics of independence, it was notable that the two parties that got the most votes, Naleraq and the Democrats, are on the right economically, wanting lower taxes, leaner welfare and a smaller role for the state.’

@jamesmeek.bsky.social in Greenland: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

What’s really unclear is why there’s anything wrong with this kind of globalisation. Why is it a problem?

Most objections ultimately boil down to racism.

Friendly reminder. In the United States, criminals are entitled to due process. Even if you pay hush money rig an election, steal top secret documents, or incite a mob to overthrow the government; no matter how egregious your crimes, you’re entitled to due process.

Fraser MacDonald · On Compost I sometimes wonder whether my love of compost is a response to the dispiriting cleanness of modern life – the spray’...

In praise of compost, by the brilliant @frasermacdonald.bsky.social . Read it here: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Why I have resigned from the Royal Society The Royal Society is a venerable institution founded in 1660, whose original members included such eminent men as Christopher Wren, Robert H...

It's really worth reading every word of what she says in her blogspot
deevybee.blogspot.com/2024/11/why-...

Critical thinking and empathy are the most important things that will ensure sustainable human existence.

The current deterioration of both is the biggest problem humanity faces.

A satirical cartoon of a passenger on a plane saying the pilot has lost touch with regular passengers before adding: “who thinks I should fly the plane?” Everyone puts their hands up.

cartoon of the day