I'm having an existential crisis. The imp in me wants to say it's all Mastodon's fault, but that would not be true. Mastodon is, however, where it's being played out. Once upon a time, many, many years ago, I joined Mastodon. Well,
The algorithm rots again. I have just subscribed to Channel 4 in order to be able to stream without the ads (well, almost without the ads, but that's a separate issue). And I decided to let them send me emails about what's on offer. I like
Robert Reich's post Congress and my prostate was timely for me today. Congress has nothing to do with me, but my prostate is my current major concern. Reich notes that he is on oestrogen patches which have the same effect as the kind of drug I'm
Assessment by West Midlands police in relation to the banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture on 6 November 2025 is reported on today. "Inspection of police forces’ contributions to safety advisory groups: West Midlands Police". It seems clear that
Today's (2nd Jan 2026) thing that's wrong with the country is Labour backing down - again. I'm coining a new acronym - LACO. Labour Always Chickens Out. "Ministers are poised to allow homes in England to be built without carbon-cutting technology in what
A post in two parts Part One It feels like a complex legacy, but only if viewed through the lens of current culture. There are three key aspects to the remembering of Bardot's life. She was a film actress, very beautiful, very strong willed, quite talented; then for
When this piece first appeared in LibDemVoice, I entitled it "Moving On", which was a terrible subject line. It gives no clue about what followed and doesn't inspire the prospective reader to look either. I think today's subject line is much better, although it
Phone call from oncology today. I discovered that "no indication of spread" doesn't mean "clear". The scans done so far have shown no indication, but they might have missed something microscopic, so I'll now have another scan done which is more likely
I was told a few weeks ago that I have prostate cancer. My wife had been badgering me for some time to get tested, and I finally agreed. I have no symptoms, no reason to think that I might have it, but it turns out I do. My brother in
I've been living in Lyra Silvertongue's world for the last few weeks. I finished The Secret Commonwealth last month. I moved on to The Rose Field this month and finished it today, and I now feel almost bereft that I can no longer live in that
I read Walden some time ago. One of those books that many people know about and not so many have read. And it is not what those who have not read it think it is. When I'd finished it, I was really not sure what message or import
So, degoogling the easy bits: Gmail. I've moved to another provider for all the things I used gmail for. It will take a while to move all my subscriptions across, but that's not problematic. Blogspot: I'm here on Ghost. Haven't decided what