Mary Margaret McCabe

📌

Wall Street Journal: Birthday letter to Epstein bore Trump’s signature, drawing of naked woman | CNN Politics A collection of letters gifted to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 included a note bearing Donald Trump’s name and an outline of a naked woman, according to a Wall Street Journal report p...

“President Trump will be suing The Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Mr. Murdoch, shortly,”

Jarndyce and Jarndyce,with luck. Bring it on!

edition.cnn.com/2025/07/17/p...

‘Humanitarian city’ would be concentration camp for Palestinians, says former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says forcing people into camp would be ethnic cleansing, and anger at Israel is not all down to antisemitism

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Thank you very much for the support! Hugely appreciated. And it is indeed happening, in many UK prisons. @philosophyinprison.bsky.social

Our Chair @mmmccabe.bsky.social speaking about Philosophy in Prison and #whyphilosophymatters at Warwick's Department of Philosophy's 60th Anniversary.

Department of Philosophy at Warwick celebrates its 60th anniversary in Senate House @uolpress.bsky.social with speeches on why #philosophymatters by Qassim Cassam, Heather Widdows, @guylongworth.bsky.social and @mmmccabe.bsky.social

Glorious peony Sarah Bernhardt just in full and complicated bloom. Brief moment of joy in a world gone mad.

Radio 3 - Listen Live - BBC Sounds Listen live to BBC Radio 3 on BBC Sounds

Listening to Private Passions where Professor @hilarycottam.bsky.social is talking about many social issues, including design of prisons, adult loneliness, finding meaning and purpose in life, and caring for elderly. Fascinating, and available online:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The Telegraph is now having to publish so many corrections to articles where it attempts to find *any angle whatsoever* to attack net-zero polices that it makes sense to start tracking them here.

These are the ones published since Labour won the election.

"We are happy to correct the record."

Yes. Agreed. Not always easy to feel hopeful!

Ps I agree completely about previous gov failures!!!!!

I understand it to be the continuation of the previous gov policy of building super prisons. But unlike the Victorian prisons they are often far from transport links and hard for family to visit. Not good for rehabilitation (or for the work of prison charities providing interesting things to do).

Various classical musicians

We're just days away from the local leg of the Berkshire Chamber Music Festival, with two fab concerts at St James the Less, Pangbourne - Mozart and Beethoven from the BCMF ensemble on 4 June, and Champagne and Candlelight with award-winning harpist Oliver Wass on 6 June!
buff.ly/ZQ0BmSS

Of course. But some changes could be made right away and are not — and the building programme points in the wrong direction, towards ‘lock-em-up’ rather than thinking about prisons could be improved, not least by more support for some of the inspirational people working there.

I hoped so. But not much is changing. E.g. an easy win would be to scrap the ‘six-year-rule’ denying support for degree work until prisoners are within six years of release. This wastes talent AND the good effect of HE work among larger group on the wing. Labour talk is still about super prisons.

I hoped so. But not much is changing. E.g. an easy win would be to scrap the ‘six-year-rule’ denying support for degree work until prisoners are within six years of release. This wastes talent AND the good effect of HE work among larger group on the wing. Labour talk is still about super prisons.

Chart showing projections for child poverty until 2035 where this is projected to reach 36%.

Without ambitious policy change, child poverty is projected to increase dramatically over the next decade.

In fact, should the Government continue with existing policy, our projections suggest child
poverty will hit 33 per cent in 2029-30, a level not seen since 1998-99.

The answer cannot be more ways to throw away the key. Try building up interesting educational
programmes inside prisons, support prison staff to make it possible to deliver those programmes, and allow prisoners to see that they matter. Then look again at the numbers of places you really need.

Great interview on Times Radio this morning @hugorifkind.bsky.social talking to James Chamberlain about Philosophy in Prison. @philosophyinprison.bsky.social

Great piece by James Chamberlain on the work of Philosophy in Prison @philosophyinprison.bsky.social

Harvard correctly understands that it’s in a fight for its life and there is no appeasement that will save it. I wish a lot more institutions understood this.

Tuesday: the wonderful Isobel Armstrong ran a poetry workshop at a women’s prison in London: brilliant event. ‘Your words are your own and no one can take them from you’; thence stunning collaboration between the women. Not philosophy, but extraordinary all the same! @philosophyinprison.bsky.social

Hale once again showing how the law needs careful interpretation of what it actually says, word by word. This includes advice for EHRC: ‘may exclude’ does not imply ‘must exclude’. What is more, the law cannot mandate just attitudes of respect and kindness towards *everyone*

Hi Tim, good to see you. No I didn’t think it was quite Simon’s thing — although I think he has the style for it !

Yikes I have never noticed this (certainly would not write it)! Must have been there for a while….Simon Blackburn may know ( is he on here?)Should there be a Meeting About It? Would the Meeting be doing it?

New York Times: For months, Israel has tried to pressure Hamas by both threatening a major new ground offensive in Gaza and simultaneously cutting off aid to the territory. On Monday, Israel made a U-turn on aid, allowing a few trucks of food to enter Gaza. And despite escalating its rhetoric and its airstrikes on Gaza in recent days, the Israeli military had yet to begin the long-awaited major advance that would involve thousands of ground troops. The lack of strategic clarity reflects disagreements within its leadership about Israel's national priorities.

Israel allowing “a few trucks of food to enter Gaza” isn’t a U-turn. It’s a tactic to get people to stop saying you’ve completely shut down aid from coming in. Aid groups have said Gaza needs at least 500 trucks a day.

The problem with insisting that someone is strong enough to fight or defeat cancer is that it implies that others who aren’t strong enough are just not trying hard enough. Cancer doesn’t care if you have a strong will. And this attitude just makes things harder for the sick.

Police could search homes and phones after pregnancy loss | The Observer New national guidance suggests officers look for menstrual tracking apps or abortion drugs

The U.K. police have had guidance on how to search you after a miscarriage incase someone wants to accuse you of an illegal abortion. I can’t say it enough, we need this abortion decriminalisation amendment to pass this time observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Bright purple Tansy field in Cambridgeshire — beautiful but inedible. It appears to be cultivated— what is it used for?