Retired. Write stuff that a handful of people read. Right but y'all ain't listening.
Bradford
Joined January 2009
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Ah, the Noble Savage myth is still alive and well.
We lived according to nature and our nature. That’s how we have been for most of the time that we have been modern humans: perhaps around 90% of the time – depending on how you do the calculation.
And then we changed. We call that change the Neolithic. It would be better to call it the Centripetal. We conglomerated, coagulated, congealed, corralled and were ourselves corralled. We see it best in the great cities of Mesopotamia (I note that I’ve fallen under their spell by calling them “great”): Ur, Uruk, Eridu, and the others. There we penned ourselves inside walls. The walls defined us. They still do. Instead of being simply human, with the address “The Whole World: Wherever I happen to be”, the self-descriptions became “Ur-ite”, “Uruk-ite” or “Eridu-ite”, and our addresses “Ur”, “Uruk” or “Eridu”.
Chauvinism, hierarchy and disease fulminated in the heat of the deltas. Language, used before for love-making, fireside creation myths and discussing the migration paths of meat, was recruited for tax accounting. It had been alive and flowing: now it was fossilised onto clay tablets. We became tyrannised by supply and demand. We put our eggs into a few baskets, and when the basket dropped, we either starved or went to war to seize the baskets of others. We became dependent on the success of fields, and looked enviously on the fields of others. The Bible has it right: the first murder took place in a field – the quintessential Neolithic place.
Read more from @tweedpipe:
buff.ly/hvIzdKD
Simon Cooke retweeted
England's oldest pub is the George Inn, of Norton St Philip, Somerset, in continuous use as an inn since around 1430-32, says Historic England archaeologist. theguardian.com/culture/2026…
Simon Cooke retweeted
Extreme cold related deaths are responsible for 1.1M deaths in tropical (warm) Africa. Heat related deaths stand at just 36k.
Extreme heat/cold is not the culprit. It's moderate most of the times. Nevertheless, cold is more dangerous than heat- 9 times globally.
Extreme heat is putting pregnant women, newborns and children at growing risk.
New UN guidance will help countries track these risks, strengthen preparedness and take action to protect those most vulnerable to heat.
Details from @WHO: who.int/news/item/21-10-2026…
Simon Cooke retweeted
Fun fact: Sweden has four nuclear reactors that have each generated more electricity than all Danish wind turbines ever.
Forsmark 3 and Oskarshamn 3 started in 1985, the year Denmark banned nuclear. Both still ahead of Denmark’s entire wind fleet.
Simon Cooke retweeted
Just Eat apologises for AI food mistakes after social media ridicule bbc.in/4jAIj9J
Funny isn't it - what's your earliest remembering of a political event. While I recall sitting with my mum telling in 1970 that's what I remember not the election result.
I do remember standing in the school dinner line chatting about Harold Wilson resigning. That's probably the one.
If you're opening a bar at the redeveloped Battersea power station and don't call it "The Flying Pig" you doing it wrong.
One of the things about the vagueness of retirement is that I can't remember any of the brilliant ideas for articles I had while driving to fill up the car with ridiculously expensive diesel. Can anybody help?
Simon Cooke retweeted
Nice to know the UK prime minister says we are “allowed a glass of or two” of wine. Standard stuff.
On Sunday, at #battlefest, @PhilipDaviesUK said there is now a generation of MPs who think their *only* job is telling people what to do.
Simon Cooke retweeted
I would like to give my informed consent to be putting back on display at Kelvingrove, I dont like it in this cupboard with the mops and buckets
@GlasgowCC
No surprise really
The leader of an activist group behind pro-Palestine protests in the UK met with two individuals later sanctioned over their links to Iran, The Telegraph can reveal.
In 2014, Medea Benjamin, the co-founder of anti-war organisation Code Pink, was in contact with men later identified by US officials as facilitators for the Islamic Republic’s foreign intelligence⤵️
telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026…
Excellent.
Well this is certainly something a bit different! 👾😂
Read more: kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/n…
This story is gently coming to the boil.
Jonathan Powell was not vetted before being appointed National Security Adviser, we can report.
spectator.com/article/reveal…
Simon Cooke retweeted
“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition.”
Rudyard Kipling
Why should I stockpile and what will I need? bbc.in/4yESD4t
