Mara Keire

How have I never heard Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Machine Gun’ before yesterday? What a visceral protest song.

And then he realized why he was thinking like this. It was because he wanted there to be conspirators. It was much better to imagine men in some smoky room somewhere, made mad and cynical by privilege and power, plotting over the brandy. You had to cling to this sort of image, because if you didn't then you might have to face the fact that bad things happened because ordinary people, the kind who brushed the dog and told their children bedtime stories, were capable of then going out and doing horrible things to other ordinary people. It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was Us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No-one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

I’m still amazed at how hard it is for people to recognize that others on their own “side” can be bad, or even do bad things. Terry Pratchett very wisely described it years ago, and these words have been so descriptive of the last decade or so.

Happy New Year! Wishing you all a 2024 full of health, happiness & stationery.

Best way to take stock I’ve ever seen.

If I could pick one single figure to transport to the modern age with microblogging social media access I would pick Dorothy Parker in an absolute heartbeat and never even think about anyone else

Add Nick Miroff to your list. He’s been stoking immigration fears since the Trump admin.

The Remove the Stain Act This past June a congressman from Washington state named Denny Heck introduced the “Remove the Stain Act,” which would rescind “each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at Wounded Kne…

Yesterday was the anniversary of the massacre at Wounded Knee. It is time for Congress to pass the Remove the Stain Act and revoke the medals of honor given to the soldiers who perpetrated this entirely avoidable slaughter.

michaelleroyoberg.com/current-even...

there is still a pervasive but unstated belief within mainstream media institutions that republicans represent a “real america” that must be indulged regardless of what they believe or the implications thereof

Have a good break, Isabel!

NEWS: SCOTUS will not immediately hear the case over Trump’s immunity claim in connection with the Jan. 6-related federal charges he faces in DC. The DC Circuit, however, has already expedited the appeal to be heard there in early January.

Y'know I was gonna just enjoy my holiday but if I see one more white man law professor saying it would be Undemocratic, Actually to enforce a constitutional provision expressly designed to foster multiracial democracy and disempower instigators of white supremacist takeovers, I'm gonna lose my shit

“Deplatforming Nazis makes the Nazi problem worse” is demonstrably wrong. There’s endless evidence and studies and data and proof that not giving Nazis a platform and forcing them into silent obscurity works to fight the Nazi problem. Anyone saying otherwise just likes Nazis.

Congrats!

PSA: today is the LAST DAY that UK people can book a covid vaccination. if you are caring for elderly/ill relatives over the xmas period this is THE LAST CHANCE you have to try to get a vaccine in your arm for the festive season. www.england.nhs.uk/2023/12/nhs-...

Reminds me of the Black Books scene where a customer only wants to buy the Dickens collection if it’s made with real leather. Pointing it’s real Dickens whatever the cover, Bernard eventually gets so frustrated that he demands real leather pounds.

"he refused to shut the fuck up for decades"

pajiba.substack.com/p/say-henry-...

first page of article with photos of Grandin and Ferguson book covers Early in their new books on Henry Kissinger, Niall Ferguson and Greg Grandin tell the same story about a decisive break between Kissinger and his former Harvard colleagues over the U.S. invasion of Cambodia in the spring of 1970. A dozen professors headed by Nobel Prize-winning economist Thomas Schelling flew down to Washington, D.C., where they took turns venting outrage and excoriating their old friend. Ferguson and Grandin agree that this episode is revealing, and revealing it is, for their sharply contrasting uses of the story lay bare much about the assumptions and methods that underpin their two books, as well as about the battle tactics in what we might call the “Kissinger wars”: the high-stakes contest over how to appraise the record of America’s most controversial statesman.

The great historian Barbara Keys is finishing a book on Kissinger. @jamestwotree.bsky.social on Twitter refers us to two of her essays. I was delighted to find copies on her website.

1) Keys, Barbara. “The Kissinger Wars.” American Historian 10 (2016): 16–22. www.barbarakeys.com/wp-content/u...

I went with Nonie, and we had a great time. I reckon you’ll have a great discussion. So much good material (literally!)

The Colour exhibit at the Ashmolean is good fun. It’s always a joy to see aniline dyes creating bright, beautiful clothing. And shoes! Gorgeous cloth shoes.

Instead of asking yourself “why do successful women date abusive men?” Ask — why would an abusive man prey on a successful woman? Abuse is one of the tools in the patriarchy’s toolbox.

FYI: If you're wondering why a bunch of rape allegations have been made against celebrities in the last few days, New York's Adult Survivors Act — a law that that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for filing a sexual assault complaint — expires today.

Perfect image for Black Friday is perfect.

Breaking a generational cycle! The kid’s decided against doing history at A-Level. His grandparents were historians, his parents are historians, and he will NOT be a historian. I am so proud.

Le Roy Ladurie was a brilliant historian.
Montaillou was a revelation to me.
Jasmin's Witch remains a necessary point of reference for my current work.

But he was also *v publicly* homophobic and I'm finding it a bit odd this is going unmentioned in obits etc

link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

L’historien Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie est mort Professeur au Collège de France, administrateur général de la Bibliothèque nationale, historien de l’époque moderne et du climat, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie s’est éteint le 22 novembre à l�...

Another giant of French history has died (at the ripe old age of 94).
RIP Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie 🗃️

www.lemonde.fr/disparitions...

For teen girls victimized by ‘deepfake’ nudes, there is little recourse The FBI has warned that technology used to create pornographic deepfake photos and videos was improving and being used for harassment and sextortion.

The deepfake crisis for women and girls has grown tremendously. It isn’t mentioned in most AI discourse, even though it’s the primary use of deepfakes by far. Now, it is being used to victimize dozens of teen girls. The perpetrators include their male classmates
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

The kid gave his bff a water spray bottle when they came out as non binary to use whenever someone misgendered or deadnamed them. They had a lot of fun AND got their point across.

Truth. Happy for you, Keri Leigh.