Reading

Created
Wed, 08/04/2026 - 18:06
No Body’s Perfect his tennis elbowwas his Achilles heel and his Achilles heelwas on his athlete’s foot and his athlete’s footmade him down in the mouth and though the down in his mouthhe took on the chin, it became less a shot in the armthan a chip on his shoulder – so that when the…
Created
Wed, 08/04/2026 - 04:00

Calm down. I don’t necessarily see what all the fuss is about. In all honesty, I also read the Dread Lord Nyarlathotep’s post this morning and was surprised by it, same as you. We all know he’s the Crawling Chaos, and that title implies a certain degree of unpredictability. But even for him, his vow to “gorge on the carcass of humanity itself” unless his latest (albeit nebulous) demands are met is pretty intense. I can’t remember the last time that an elected US official said something so unconscionable and nightmarish.

Didn’t Nixon say something similar? No? Hmm.

Anyway. I’m not endorsing what the Dread Lord uttered in a series of cacophonous, guttural snarls and clicking noises at the press pool yesterday. I don’t think “wholesale existential negation” is a particularly effective geopolitical strategy under even the most normal circumstances.

Created
Wed, 08/04/2026 - 01:55
The totally ace online booksellers BookKind have chosen ‘How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside’ as their Non-Fiction Book of the Month for April. This is doubly good news because every copy sold via BookKind raises money for charity – just select from a range of charitable organisations when you order: https://bookkind.co.uk/book-of-the-month-home/ In…
Created
Wed, 08/04/2026 - 00:33

After a top reporter at the BBC drew outrage for publishing a quote demanding Iran be nuked, she’s been revealed as a dedicated regime change activist whose career was launched by a CIA-founded propaganda network. Serious questions remain about the BBC’s editorial process.  On April 6, 2026, horrified social media users began drawing attention to an extraordinary statement allegedly provided to the BBC by a twenty-something Iranian: “About them hitting energy infrastructure, using an atomic bomb, or leveling Iran – […]

The post Senior BBC Iran reporter exposed as opposition activist first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post Senior BBC Iran reporter exposed as opposition activist appeared first on The Grayzone.

Created
Tue, 07/04/2026 - 23:00

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McSweeney’s contributor Johanna Gohmann channels the chaos and charm of life with a toddler into All Toddlers Are Scorpios a hilarious astrology guide illustrated by cartoonist (and McSweeney’s contributor) Emily Flake.

We’re thrilled to share an excerpt today from the book’s opening chapter. All Toddlers Are Scorpios is out now and available at your nearest bookseller.

Created
Tue, 07/04/2026 - 22:00

When my country attacked my country, I cheered with enthusiasm and gasped in horror. “Now they’d get what they deserved, those bastards,” I said in the angry tone of the men I’d watched in black-and-white movies about World War II. Then I beat my chest and wailed and tried to pull out my own hair like I’d seen my grandmother do when my grandfather died. Of two minds, two hearts, and two stomachs, I walked around the house in a frenzy until I settled in the kitchen to make a breakfast of hot black tea and Lucky Charms.

If you are not a pilot or a drone operator or a person having their house blown up, there is not a lot to do in a war. I refused to give up my routines, even as bombs destroyed everything around my aunt’s house and then everything around my uncle’s house and then everything around my niece’s house, empires of rubble spilling out where there used to be hospitals, playgrounds, schools. Rubble rubble rubble.

Created
Tue, 07/04/2026 - 17:39
(A piece I wrote for the Guardian) A couple of weeks ago, just before my 70th birthday, I completed the Mooloolaba standard distance triathlon (1,500m swim, 40km cycle, 10km run). There was nothing exceptional about my performance, placing 1,509 out of 1,730 overall and 14th out of 18 in my 65-69 age category. But not […]
Created
Tue, 07/04/2026 - 03:00

#————————————————
#File: exist.female
#Last Updated: Before you were born
#Status: Auto-enrolled
#Effective Date: Immediately
#Opt-Out: Not Available
#Note: You did not click anything.
#Note: It’s still your problem.
#————————————————-

INIT woman();

#—————————————————
#GENERAL HUMAN CONDITIONS
#—————————————————

if (human == woman) {

      human- -;
      object++;
      Default.value = “Mom”;
      store(family_dignity, location = clothing);