@billga2603.bsky.social
Pinned
I've walked this brazen clanging path
In flesh's brittle arrogance
To chance the simple hazard, death
Regretting only this, my rash
Ambitious wish in verse to write
A true and valued testament
Hamish Henderson.
In flesh's brittle arrogance
To chance the simple hazard, death
Regretting only this, my rash
Ambitious wish in verse to write
A true and valued testament
Hamish Henderson.
The state is to protect us from oppressors. So said Thomas Hobbes long ago. Our state today must measure up. A significant number of GOP reps who see the need must rise against Trump, join all reasonable people and remove him. If no such come forth we must accept our fate. Tell them! Today!
July 14, 2025 at 8:31 AM
The state is to protect us from oppressors. So said Thomas Hobbes long ago. Our state today must measure up. A significant number of GOP reps who see the need must rise against Trump, join all reasonable people and remove him. If no such come forth we must accept our fate. Tell them! Today!
"There is bound to be a certain amount of trouble running any country. If you are president, the trouble happens to you. But if you are a tyrant you can arrange things so that most of the trouble happens to other people."
Don Marquis. 1878-1937
Says it all?
Don Marquis. 1878-1937
Says it all?
July 7, 2025 at 9:51 AM
"There is bound to be a certain amount of trouble running any country. If you are president, the trouble happens to you. But if you are a tyrant you can arrange things so that most of the trouble happens to other people."
Don Marquis. 1878-1937
Says it all?
Don Marquis. 1878-1937
Says it all?
Is there a debate to be had on "Academic Freedom " used as it is as a free pass to an authoritative platform for wide ranging views on any topic whatsoever, enjoying however varying degrees of support from any form of rigorous examination?
E.g. In sociological pronouncements.
E.g. In sociological pronouncements.
July 2, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Is there a debate to be had on "Academic Freedom " used as it is as a free pass to an authoritative platform for wide ranging views on any topic whatsoever, enjoying however varying degrees of support from any form of rigorous examination?
E.g. In sociological pronouncements.
E.g. In sociological pronouncements.
Tried "Mind Hunter" TV series.
Quirky plots rendered almost impossible by appalling "artistic" photography. Half shit in the dark and when outside in daylight everything is a grotesque yellow/grey.
How do we tell these people?
Quirky plots rendered almost impossible by appalling "artistic" photography. Half shit in the dark and when outside in daylight everything is a grotesque yellow/grey.
How do we tell these people?
July 1, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Tried "Mind Hunter" TV series.
Quirky plots rendered almost impossible by appalling "artistic" photography. Half shit in the dark and when outside in daylight everything is a grotesque yellow/grey.
How do we tell these people?
Quirky plots rendered almost impossible by appalling "artistic" photography. Half shit in the dark and when outside in daylight everything is a grotesque yellow/grey.
How do we tell these people?
I've walked this brazen clanging path
In flesh's brittle arrogance
To chance the simple hazard, death
Regretting only this, my rash
Ambitious wish in verse to write
A true and valued testament
Hamish Henderson.
In flesh's brittle arrogance
To chance the simple hazard, death
Regretting only this, my rash
Ambitious wish in verse to write
A true and valued testament
Hamish Henderson.
June 23, 2025 at 9:34 PM
I've walked this brazen clanging path
In flesh's brittle arrogance
To chance the simple hazard, death
Regretting only this, my rash
Ambitious wish in verse to write
A true and valued testament
Hamish Henderson.
In flesh's brittle arrogance
To chance the simple hazard, death
Regretting only this, my rash
Ambitious wish in verse to write
A true and valued testament
Hamish Henderson.
Let us make no mistake. Trump is unique. We have not seen destructive ignorant folly on this scale before. But. He is not unrepresentative. He is the front end of a substantial body of opinion. We need a solution which removes him but manages the issues which divide us. Or we will have a repeat.
June 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Let us make no mistake. Trump is unique. We have not seen destructive ignorant folly on this scale before. But. He is not unrepresentative. He is the front end of a substantial body of opinion. We need a solution which removes him but manages the issues which divide us. Or we will have a repeat.
Edward Gibbon attributed the fall of the Roman Empire in large measure to the pursuit of "luxury and despotism". And here we are. Persecuted in the majority by a tiny minority, the super rich, destroying the good and useful in that very pursuit. We are now victims of despotism. We must act.
June 12, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Edward Gibbon attributed the fall of the Roman Empire in large measure to the pursuit of "luxury and despotism". And here we are. Persecuted in the majority by a tiny minority, the super rich, destroying the good and useful in that very pursuit. We are now victims of despotism. We must act.
Charles Taylor is unworthy of our attention. His religious affiliation is incompatible with his philosophical work and indeed nullifies it. We do need to understand religion in order to contain its harms but not from him.
Stick with Robert Bellah.
Stick with Robert Bellah.
June 12, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Charles Taylor is unworthy of our attention. His religious affiliation is incompatible with his philosophical work and indeed nullifies it. We do need to understand religion in order to contain its harms but not from him.
Stick with Robert Bellah.
Stick with Robert Bellah.
Having had Sumter II, today we have the speech that will be "heard around the world"
Only the GOP can prevent the inevitably tragedy looming. It gave him the role and bears the responsibility.
Unless of course we are seeing here its "true colours shining through".
With apologies to Cyndi Lauper
Only the GOP can prevent the inevitably tragedy looming. It gave him the role and bears the responsibility.
Unless of course we are seeing here its "true colours shining through".
With apologies to Cyndi Lauper
June 11, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Having had Sumter II, today we have the speech that will be "heard around the world"
Only the GOP can prevent the inevitably tragedy looming. It gave him the role and bears the responsibility.
Unless of course we are seeing here its "true colours shining through".
With apologies to Cyndi Lauper
Only the GOP can prevent the inevitably tragedy looming. It gave him the role and bears the responsibility.
Unless of course we are seeing here its "true colours shining through".
With apologies to Cyndi Lauper
Anthony Kaldellis has written a magnificent book "The New Roman Empire" about the Eastern Empire based on Constantinople. The book is full of observations of huge current relevance. For example "its aristocrats were unable to accumulate so much wealth that they could bully the state"
Get that!
Get that!
June 10, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Anthony Kaldellis has written a magnificent book "The New Roman Empire" about the Eastern Empire based on Constantinople. The book is full of observations of huge current relevance. For example "its aristocrats were unable to accumulate so much wealth that they could bully the state"
Get that!
Get that!
We need better guidance on how to live. Try this.
Never buy anything that is advertised!
Since advertising is concentrated on items with no distinctive features. Like soft drinks. Or political parties.
And the product thus costs more. Let us all tell each other if we find something worthwhile.
Never buy anything that is advertised!
Since advertising is concentrated on items with no distinctive features. Like soft drinks. Or political parties.
And the product thus costs more. Let us all tell each other if we find something worthwhile.
June 10, 2025 at 12:34 PM
We need better guidance on how to live. Try this.
Never buy anything that is advertised!
Since advertising is concentrated on items with no distinctive features. Like soft drinks. Or political parties.
And the product thus costs more. Let us all tell each other if we find something worthwhile.
Never buy anything that is advertised!
Since advertising is concentrated on items with no distinctive features. Like soft drinks. Or political parties.
And the product thus costs more. Let us all tell each other if we find something worthwhile.
"Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
W B Yeats 1919
And he thought that was bad!
Look at us now.
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
W B Yeats 1919
And he thought that was bad!
Look at us now.
June 9, 2025 at 8:37 AM
"Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
W B Yeats 1919
And he thought that was bad!
Look at us now.
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
W B Yeats 1919
And he thought that was bad!
Look at us now.
Almost 300 years ago David Hume noted the general acceptance of "the easiness with which the many are governed by the few; and the implicit submission, with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers."
And here we are with democracy dying. All gains lost!
Unless!
And here we are with democracy dying. All gains lost!
Unless!
June 8, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Almost 300 years ago David Hume noted the general acceptance of "the easiness with which the many are governed by the few; and the implicit submission, with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers."
And here we are with democracy dying. All gains lost!
Unless!
And here we are with democracy dying. All gains lost!
Unless!
When life gets tough even rational people despair and are tempted by the blandishments of groups offering seemingly easy answers often invoking supernatural dimensions.
Reject . And reflect.
"Emotional disorientation is not a warrant for metaphysical retreat"
Not originally mine. But original.
Reject . And reflect.
"Emotional disorientation is not a warrant for metaphysical retreat"
Not originally mine. But original.
June 2, 2025 at 6:45 PM
When life gets tough even rational people despair and are tempted by the blandishments of groups offering seemingly easy answers often invoking supernatural dimensions.
Reject . And reflect.
"Emotional disorientation is not a warrant for metaphysical retreat"
Not originally mine. But original.
Reject . And reflect.
"Emotional disorientation is not a warrant for metaphysical retreat"
Not originally mine. But original.
Reposted
Crying in public has wrongly been cast as a sign of weakness. In fact, it is a sign of enormous strength, writes @sarahelizacollins.bsky.social.
www.prospectmagazine...
www.prospectmagazine...
Mindful life: I’m reclaiming crying in public as mysterious and chic
Public emotional outbursts have long had a bad rep, but crying in an incongruous location is therapeutic
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
May 31, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Crying in public has wrongly been cast as a sign of weakness. In fact, it is a sign of enormous strength, writes @sarahelizacollins.bsky.social.
www.prospectmagazine...
www.prospectmagazine...
His humble townsfolk sicken to behold
This monstrous changeling whom they schooled in vain,
Who brings no increase in their hoard of gold .....
His evil fame is borne on every wind ......
Roy Campbell
Remind us of anyone?
This monstrous changeling whom they schooled in vain,
Who brings no increase in their hoard of gold .....
His evil fame is borne on every wind ......
Roy Campbell
Remind us of anyone?
May 22, 2025 at 9:48 PM
His humble townsfolk sicken to behold
This monstrous changeling whom they schooled in vain,
Who brings no increase in their hoard of gold .....
His evil fame is borne on every wind ......
Roy Campbell
Remind us of anyone?
This monstrous changeling whom they schooled in vain,
Who brings no increase in their hoard of gold .....
His evil fame is borne on every wind ......
Roy Campbell
Remind us of anyone?
Face it. Curiosity
will not cause us to die -
only lack of it will.
Never to want to see
the other side of the hill
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
(although a probable hell)
would kill us all
Only the curious
have if they live a tale
worth telling at all.
Alastair Reid (1988)
will not cause us to die -
only lack of it will.
Never to want to see
the other side of the hill
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
(although a probable hell)
would kill us all
Only the curious
have if they live a tale
worth telling at all.
Alastair Reid (1988)
May 21, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Face it. Curiosity
will not cause us to die -
only lack of it will.
Never to want to see
the other side of the hill
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
(although a probable hell)
would kill us all
Only the curious
have if they live a tale
worth telling at all.
Alastair Reid (1988)
will not cause us to die -
only lack of it will.
Never to want to see
the other side of the hill
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
(although a probable hell)
would kill us all
Only the curious
have if they live a tale
worth telling at all.
Alastair Reid (1988)
Having now attracted 200 followers I feel a burden of responsibility. When I started I was largely talking to myself in part to keep my spirits up. Now I shall be more circumspect with fewer highly dismissive out bursts.
Thank you all.
Thank you all.
May 20, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Having now attracted 200 followers I feel a burden of responsibility. When I started I was largely talking to myself in part to keep my spirits up. Now I shall be more circumspect with fewer highly dismissive out bursts.
Thank you all.
Thank you all.
From:
All Hallows
by Louise Glück.
Even now this landscape is assembling.
The hills darken. The oxen
sleep in their blue yoke,
the fields having been
picked clean, the sheaves
bound evenly and piled at the roadside
among cinquefoil, as the toothed moon rises:
She is much missed.
All Hallows
by Louise Glück.
Even now this landscape is assembling.
The hills darken. The oxen
sleep in their blue yoke,
the fields having been
picked clean, the sheaves
bound evenly and piled at the roadside
among cinquefoil, as the toothed moon rises:
She is much missed.
May 19, 2025 at 11:06 AM
From:
All Hallows
by Louise Glück.
Even now this landscape is assembling.
The hills darken. The oxen
sleep in their blue yoke,
the fields having been
picked clean, the sheaves
bound evenly and piled at the roadside
among cinquefoil, as the toothed moon rises:
She is much missed.
All Hallows
by Louise Glück.
Even now this landscape is assembling.
The hills darken. The oxen
sleep in their blue yoke,
the fields having been
picked clean, the sheaves
bound evenly and piled at the roadside
among cinquefoil, as the toothed moon rises:
She is much missed.
Healthcare in a humane society needs communal funding. All but plutocrats will fail to pay for some of the more expensive consultations from liquid assets and insurance is just an exploitative organ of profit for the already rich. Taxation is fair and tailored to our needs and means. Let's do it.
May 2, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Healthcare in a humane society needs communal funding. All but plutocrats will fail to pay for some of the more expensive consultations from liquid assets and insurance is just an exploitative organ of profit for the already rich. Taxation is fair and tailored to our needs and means. Let's do it.
Doctors are under universal injunction to avoid giving advice on illness in family or friends. For sound practical reasons. Despite knowledge and experience, humane emotional involvement will limit its worth. Yet much more pressing are the hazards of the current pandemic of self diagnosis.
April 22, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Doctors are under universal injunction to avoid giving advice on illness in family or friends. For sound practical reasons. Despite knowledge and experience, humane emotional involvement will limit its worth. Yet much more pressing are the hazards of the current pandemic of self diagnosis.
The Pope has just died.
"Conclave" is past its release.
Cardinals saw film?
"Conclave" is past its release.
Cardinals saw film?
April 21, 2025 at 4:59 PM
The Pope has just died.
"Conclave" is past its release.
Cardinals saw film?
"Conclave" is past its release.
Cardinals saw film?
Looking for a way
To post some stuff on Bluesky
Found the perfect form.
To post some stuff on Bluesky
Found the perfect form.
April 20, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Looking for a way
To post some stuff on Bluesky
Found the perfect form.
To post some stuff on Bluesky
Found the perfect form.