Grant Shimmin

Honoured to be back in such an amazing journal:

Who Flourishes Because You Have Power? Theologically, I've always had an ambivalent relationship with power.

I get Richard’s Substack musings as part of a package. He’s prolific, so I don’t see most of them, but the title of this spoke to me: Who Flourishes Because You Have Power?
open.substack.com/pub/richardb...

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A photo of the front cover of issue 1641 of Private Eye magazine with the caption "ON SHELVES NOW!" The headline reads "DONALD TRUMP: AN APOLOGY." The cover features a mock statement claiming that, in contrast to past descriptions of Trump as "a sleazy, deranged, orange-faced man-baby," the magazine now recognises him as "a political colossus, the voice of sanity, a champion of liberty, and the saviour of the Western world." The parody humorously describes him as "slim, handsome, and young," concluding with a note that "this statement has not been fact-checked."

Donald Trump. An Apology.

The new Private Eye is out now

JUST IN: The two Yankees fans who pried open Mookie Betts’ glove during Game 4 of the World Series are indefinitely banned from attending any MLB game, a league source confirmed to The Athletic.

Full story:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/605...

A tender epic in miniature, tremendous new micro #creativenonfiction from Sheila Rittenberg | www.doesithavepockets.com/cnf/sheila-r...

Art @anchalastudio.bsky.social

Yeah, and Musk is supposedly a free speech absolutist, but it’s clear he’s not that keen on stuff he doesn’t agree with

Pretty much. I’m just listening on Audible now to Prophet Song, the 2023 Booker Prize-winning novel by Irish author Paul Lynch. It’s frightening how much its portrayal of state coercion and the descent into authoritarianism lines up with the logic in that quoted excerpt 🤔

"Free speech is very important and everyone must be given room to say whatever they're thinking, but in order for everyone to be able to say whatever they're thinking, we have to make sure certain people aren't allowed say what they think in case it stops other people from saying what they think."

Untethered | Shane Meyer-Holt | Substack A Hopeful Exploration of Connection, Care, and Community in Late Capitalism. Click to read Untethered, by Shane Meyer-Holt, a Substack publication.

My friend Shane has a Substack tackling the intersections of care, friendship, community, freedom, the feeling of disconnection so many experience, the pervasive social imaginary of neoliberalism. It's really good stuff. Check it out. theuntethereddilemma.substack.com

I know, when I saw the poem I thought it was remarkable. I can’t remember if they found others or it was just the one, so I don’t know for sure if the one preserved in the tank was THE one, but it was still quite an extraordinary thing to be able to see

As we enter a new year, here's a message to all my trans followers, readers and friends. You are valid. You deserve respect. You deserve healthcare. You deserve love. You deserve to live in a world in which people are treated as individuals, and without prejudice. You deserve acceptance.

Insha'Allah BY DANUSHA LAMÉRIS I don't know when it slipped into my speech that soft word meaning, "if God wills it." Insha Allah I will see you next summer. The baby will come in spring, insha'Allah. Insha' Allah this year we will have enough rain. So many plans I've laid have unraveled easily as braids beneath my mother's quick fingers. Every language must have a word for this. A word our grandmothers uttered under their breath as they pinned the whites, soaked in lemon, hung them to dry in the sun, or peeled potatoes, dropping the discarded skins into a bowl. Our sons will return next month, insha'Allah. Insha'Allah this war will end, soon. Insha'Allah the rice will be enough to last through winter. How lightly we learn to hold hope, as if it were an animal that could turn around and bite your hand. And still we carry it the way a mother would, carefully, from one day to the next.

How lightly we learn to hold hope

Relationships are never simple, especially those involving family. Ending 2024 with a new CNF, Usual Sister Stuff, in Feed the Holy.

feedthehol.blogspot.com/2024/12/usua...

Lovely, Beth. Weird story. In the late 1980s, I was at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, two hours from East London, where the 1938 discovery was made. My room in the hall of residence looked onto the adjacent ichthyology department, specifically a tank with a/the coelacanth in it.

She’s very people-orientated. Really cute

Visiting one. A friend is house sitting for its family

The picture shows a pug sitting on a bed looking towards the open doors of the sleepout with an overcast sky beyond

Spent the night in a flash sleepout in Methven. Got a morning visitor

Please.

"Repent and ferment!" Sourdough, rotini, & BBQ in three clever, meaty #poems from Cory Henniges: www.doesithavepockets.com/poetry/cory-...

Graphic @anchalastudio.bsky.social

"We farmers have always believed in certain omens" Two timely, powerful pieces from A. Jenson #poetry | www.doesithavepockets.com/poetry/a-jen...

Graphic @anchalastudio.bsky.social

Veteran catcher Kyle Higashioka signs with Texas Rangers The deal is worth a total of $12.5 million ($5.75 million in 2025, $6.75 million in 2026), according to MLB.com.

Veteran catcher Kyle Higashioka signs with Texas Rangers: The deal is worth a total of $12.5 million ($5.75 million in 2025, $6.75 million in 2026), according to MLB.com.

European Federation of Journalists to stop posting content on X The EFJ represents over 295,000 journalists in 44 countries.

This is huge.

The EFJ represents over 295,000 journalists in 44 countries 👇
www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/media/e...

If you feel the need to declare that something isn’t controversial or extreme, it’s probably both.

Damn it, Brydon

Remember watching his father in South Africa back in the day. Bryson is a step up, I think, but James was a fearsome customer

Ōtautahi whānau Steadfast bookshop in Woolston has a end of lease sale with all the second hand books at 50% off 📚📗📖📔📓📚🎄

Thanks Cath! Sadly, I’m a bit leery about sharing them in the other place now 🫣