Complaints - I Have No Plan For This

I Have No Plan For This

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Complaints

A collection of 35 posts

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A political coms strategy for anyone who wants it, or; imagine if Labour had their shit together

CAVEAT: I'm just some idiot. The UK has yet another new Prime Minister who is once again promising basically they same shit they all have, in a slightly different font. There are jokes akimbo* and speculation galore about why exactly we keep doing this and here's

Photo of a large library or bookshop, with a carved staircase leading down and a large window at the far end

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Not my union, not my monkeys, BUT

The Authors Guild, an American union, has published a study pointing to libraries as a major contributor to the decline in income for writers, and everyone's mad about it because libraries are great. They point to digital lending as a major driver of this as via Libby, which

Detailed view of a denim jeans pocket with stitching and rivets, showcasing texture and tailoring.

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I have to be honest: I don't really want pockets in my clothes

Sometimes we have to be brave and admit our true feelings and one of my brave and true feelings is that I really don't want pockets in my clothes all that much. Not useful pockets, anyway. I simply do not yearn to carry things on my person in

Illustration of moustachioed men in bowler hats rushing about with newspapers saying "humbug news," "fake news," and "cheap sensation"

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What the fuck do we do about all the propaganda

Genuinely, what the fuck do we do? The UK has a mind-numbing propaganda problem and I don't think we can get anywhere without solving it. The two most striking examples are the sustained campaigns agains trans people and immigrants. Immigrants have always been a punching bag for

An elegant man sits at a giant wheel with several shelves that each contain a book.

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There's no such thing as the best books of all time

It happens every so often. Once a year, maybe once every two. Some newspaper or magazine or humble website posts a list of the best books of all time. It might be the top one hundred, maybe the top fifty. It might be the collected opinions of a selection of

A sign reading "polling station" is taped to a black, wrought iron gate, with trees behind it

I'm not hard to please as a voter

I'm really not that hard to please as a voter. All I want is political leaders who believe in things. All I want is a government who wants to make things better. I'm not that hard to please. All I want is a party who won&

John Carter, Doug Ross, Carol Hathaway, Peter Benton, Mark Greene, and Susan Lewis stand dramatically around a patient on a gurney, covered by a sheet.

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ER and, Oh God, Won't Someone Think of the Artists

I don't think I'm alone in this but I've been rewatching ER now that it's on Netflix. It's a fun exercise in being baffled by your own memory – genuinely did not remember that Corday and Greene were a thing? Had

Three colourful children with triangle shaped heads sit at school desks writing with quills. One has raised their hand.

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In which I attempt to solve: education

At one time the point of going to university was simply to get an education. To acquire a broad understanding of history, philosophy, literature; to simply steep yourself in learning for a few years in order to become a well-rounded gentleman. Because you were a gentleman, if you were

Bloodied hands form a window with their fingers through which they show an alternate universe Stephanie Hsu

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Addicted to potential

Because I like to spend my leisure time making myself mad, I've been reading More Everything Forever by Adam Becker (affiliate link) and getting all het up about effective altruism and long termism. The logic of effective altruism follows this path: you should do what is in your

Engraving showing two monks flanking a crown, one with a crucifix, one with a sword

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Epstein is a symptom

No one deposes a king because of their belief in democracy. They do it because the king has used his power to harm people. History is a cyclical thing, and one of the key cycles is this: a given society is fairly stable. There is a system that benefits a

Etching showing a roman emperor pouring money into a large chest, as a man is led away by guards and a dog watches.

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Taking a stripped back, inexpert view at a thing to see if it works, inexpertly: the economy

A thing happens when someone knows too much about a given thing. When they know too much about the theory of a given thing – not so much when when they have a lot of experience of the practical side. In fact I think dismissing the realities of the practical sides

A very serious cat sits at a small table with a tea set laid out. Black and white photo.

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Oh no! I forgot the most important part of my plan to save cinema! Let me introduce you to The Tea Tour.

I made this whole todo and then I forgot the best bit. I mean there's substantial things I forgot also, stuff about how films are made such as you could save cinema by paying a little more respect to screenwriters. Examples of this include: I'm not

An emperor moth (Saturnia pavonia). Stipple engraving with etching

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This weekend my off brand Roomba, Jeremy, became a mother

I brought this on myself, didn't I? All that crowing about how I fixed the shower and how enacting competence is good for the mental health all that bragging about exerting agency over my environment it's all come back to haunt me now. Turns out my

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Ok, so we all hate tropes, is it?

I don't know why people are talking about this really. I don't even really know how much they are talking about it, but I've seen it float across my feed a few times over the last few days, and many more over the last

Fancy men debate in a fancy room. Etching.

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We have become slaves to the idea of sounding convincing

I have a real grudge against the Enlightenment. Sure, the scholars of the Enlightenment pushed Western society towards democracy, moved us into a theoretically more egalitarian future, but they also ruined everything for everyone forever. The Enlightenment convinced us all that reasoned debate was the only thing that mattered and

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Graham Linehan and online harassment: a timeline

Were you on twitter during Gamergate? God, what a time. If you weren't extremely online circa 2015 (brag) let me explain (no, there is too much; let me sum up): in the latter half of 2014 a bunch of the internet's discontented men launched a massive

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Friends fear she has more to say about AI

Once again a thing is going around on Bluesky where someone is defending the use of AI to make art, and there's something in there that's stood out to me. The person describes the process of learning to paint as hazing. So what the fuck is

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We continue to barely function

Samuel Johnson (of the dictionary) spent a lot of his life trying to avoid debtor's prison. He's one of the most highly regarded English writers in history but while he lived and worked he struggled to survive. Such is life. What he would do to avoid

Etching of a man in a nightcap and robe sitting at a desk looking at papers and books

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Once again, we regret to inform you, it is AI

This week in death to AI some judge in some case ruled that AI companies using our books without permission qualifies as fair use because it's transformative, and not distinct from authors being influenced by other books themselves. The judge did also say that AI companies pirating books

Carved meat surrounded by pies

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We need at least some rich people to agree to being eaten

Labour are trying to court Reform voters. The BBC is trying to appeal to Reform viewers. We're all sick of it. There is one common cause, I think, between a lot of us on the left, and many voters on the right and it is this: life fucking

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Whither the British left?

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The best things in life are free except stable mental health, which does require some money

I am currently on hold with Thames Water. I am 90 minutes into a phone call with Thames Water to try and get them to refund the £375 they have just incorrectly taken from my account. There's a lot of boring backstory to this involving an incorrect bill

Still The Phoenician Scheme showing a man and a nun in the desert. The nun has a knife.

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Why did I feel such visceral disgust at the trailer for Wes Anderson's new movie?

I mean, I like Wes Anderson! I always have! For me his films range from more or less enjoyed it to will love and cherish it until my dying day with the only exception being Isle of Dogs. I'm even an apologist for The Life Aquatic with Steve

Vincent Adultman from Bojack Horseman saying "I like business...uh, transactions"

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Why did we all decide business is sensible?

I've decided that an MBA is the most nonsense degree you can have. And I say that as someone whose degree is in theatre. In another world or in another era this observation would just be idle chitchat but in this world, in this era we've

A man holds a bunch of money and gives a thumbs up. He is dead behind the eyes.

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A list of the ways I am currently providing value for shareholders

Sometimes, when you are having a Rough Time™ it can be helpful to have something to hold on to, to remind you of your inherent and exquisite value as a human being on this earth, living their one and precious life. I am having one such Rough Time™ currently – you