Solidarity with all oppressed people and with everyone involved in the struggle to realise a better world. ** I have a lot of emotions in me, as I write this. I expect lots of us do at the moment – the virus situation; the latest wave of racial justice struggles, the black lives matter protests; […]
In summer 2019, leftie punk rock band The King Blues released 38 Minutes. It’s a concept album about a false missile warning in Hawaii, when an emergency text was sent to everyone in warning them to seek shelter, that ‘THIS IS NOT A DRILL’, exploring how people react when they think they’re about to die. […]
I recently realised that it’s still about two strategies. Though it’s something I knew at the start of the crisis, I had forgotten it recently, but in discussion of ‘exit strategies’ and hearing an expert talk about coming out of lockdown I was reminded that there are, still, two different strategies available. I wrote this […]
I recently realised that it’s still about two strategies. Though it’s something I knew at the start of the crisis, I had forgotten it recently, but in discussion of ‘exit strategies’ and hearing an expert talk about coming out of lockdown I was reminded that there are, still, two different strategies available. I wrote this […]
These are lyrics to the song “End Credits” by The King Blues, which I couldn’t find elsewhere online. I wrote them out and put them on this blog because of this essay and blog post: ’38 Minutes’ by The King Blues, and trying to live one’s fullest life. whooah – ooah ooah – ooh ooh […]
Environmentalism has become trendy. Or at least, a certain brand of it, with shiny new products leading on selling points of saving the planet. Some of these are good, like portable coffee cups. Some of these are terrible, misguided ideas which come nowhere near saving the planet. Most recently, I noticed canned water being sold […]
The Uber Crash A couple of days ago, an autonomous car run by Uber crashed into and killed someone. This is the first death caused by an autonomous car (I think…). Unsurprisingly, it has generated a lot of discussion. Video available here. I’m writing this because some of the coverage I’ve seen didn’t include what […]
This post discusses rape (and sexual violence) allegations, in light of a recent case which I wrote about. ** A short piece I wrote before Christmas got published a few days ago. It’s on the Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog, and it’s a ‘case comment’, which means it is short and mostly about the facts […]
(today I fasted for gratitude and empathy) Today – Christmas Eve, as I write this – I’ve decided to fast. Drinking is allowed, but only if it has no calories – so that’s tea and water for me – and I decided coffee would be cheating a bit too. No food all day though. Actually, […]
I wrote a blog post for Oxfam’s Views and Voices blog about the Human Rights aspects of Tax Dodging. This is both about the connection between them, and also what international human rights law says about it. It may be sort-of obvious that dodging tax is really harmful for people. In ‘developed’ countries we have […]