I did the final clearance of John's office yesterday. I saw a piece of paper on the floor, so went to pick it up so that the cleaners didn't have to. It was a passport photo of John. Somehow that was the only thing left in the room. I put it in my pocket and tried not to cry. I now can't find it.

I suppose it's predictable that I have a migraine, today. I want to unscrew my head and put a new one on.

NEW What the botched prosecution of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh says about the police and CPS A series of unforced errors show that terrorism law is not taken seriously by those who should be enforcing it By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

Honestly, after watching that I’m in favour of replacing statues of Churchill with badgers.

USAID public servants lost our careers, pensions, and healthcare. Some lost their homes. Some lost their children’s tuition. Some colleagues died by suicide. Now we learn our Social Security numbers were stolen and exposed too.

But, God, I'm grateful for my sofa. And my velcro dog. And the existence of toast as dinner (albeit a lucklustre one). Today I locked up the family home for the last time. I really hope its new owners have a good life there.

I have, on 3 separate occasions today, attempted to make a cup of tea with cold water. If that isn't an indication of how things have been, today, I don't know what is. I got home around 4.30 and cannot recall anything that has happened since then. Fun.

Goodnight. "You will burn and you will burn out; you will be healed and come back again." Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Discovered something interesting, today. If you change your name, Halifax will not accept an unenrolled deed poll document as proof of that name change. To put this in perspective, the British government accept unenrolled deed poll documents. You can change your passport but not your bank account.

Ergh. Electricians. Ergh. Gas engineers. Erghhhh. 😑

Billionaires are also sponging off everyone else: exploited staff; public infrastructure (and the education and work required to create and maintain it); environmental costs. The wealthier you are the MORE of a sponge you are. buttondown.com/surekhadavie...

I wrote this about art restoration for the FT. www.ft.com/content/bfa0...

Parking Lot, Chicago, Photo by László Moholy-Nagy, 1937

The real damage comes years later, with elevated cancer rates, leukemia clusters, respiratory disease, cardiovascular failure, neurological damage, reproductive issues. This is chemical warfare, with delayed carnage. Worse than radiation sickness. I am ashamed to be American today. 2/2

First Aid training today where we learn that men have a higher survival rate after collapse requiring CPR because women’s breasts scare people. PLEASE just do the fucking CPR. Also please do the training.

An 'epidemic' of violence: The women and girls killed by men last year www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure to have major environmental fallout, experts warn

New at The Empty City The curious section 3 of the new National Security Act A broad and vague provision may be a cause for concern -especially for commentators and journalists Substack version: emptycity.substack.com/p/the-curiou... Non-substack version: theemptycity.com/blog/2026/03...

1946 photograph of Florida sponge diver John Michael Gonatos striking a pose in his patched canvas wet suit.

My partner just found an old payslip. Guess how much he used to earn in 2011 to manage a large regional bike shop? Per hour?

I remember telling my siblings I needed help in October. That I could not do everything. And yet I find myself doing everything.

Maybe you are wondering “how big of a deal is procurement and contracts to current modes of governing?” The answer: a very big deal. Political attention is focused on government employees, but we spend more on contracting, often funding the ideological opponents of the government.

A little good news.

This is an absolutely huge jump in oil prices. It's also why Europe needs to get off fossil fuels asap (beyond climate change impact). We can't be beholden to this.

I'm on deadline. So of course I have a smashing headache and stomach cramps. Of course I do.

My god.

🇺🇦🇫🇮 Russia’s war in Ukraine could have ended by now if Kyiv had received the level of air defense deployed in the Persian Gulf countries during the week of the war, — Finnish President Stubb

Tehran was already on the brink of running out of water. Now, even the rain is contaminated.

As we witness the horror of attacks on desalination plants, we need to be aware, on a warming planet, conflict over water, using water as a weapon of war, & targeting people seeking water is on the rise - in the past 4 years, it's nearly doubled: share.google/p0PrSGiLMdz0...

Happy International Women's Day. 🏴

"War is not holy; only peace is holy." Pope Leo.

┏┓ ┃┃╱╲ Yn ┃╱╱╲╲ thys ╱╱╭╮╲╲hous ▔▏┗┛▕▔ we ╱▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔╲ fuckinge LOVE Opera & Ballet ╱╱┏┳┓╭╮┏┳┓ ╲╲ ▔▏┗┻┛┃┃┗┻┛▕▔

How behind on my email am I? In the span of meaning to get back to an editorial assistant at a small publisher, that person became a best-selling author who I can no longer reach.

Today I want to talk about Jess’ Rule and Martha’s Rule, two new initiatives across NHS England that I think are really important and you should know about. Tl;dr: if your symptoms are not improving or getting worse, at home or in hospital, you have the right and Drs the responsibility to review.

‘Analysts say the disruption could prove even more damaging than the food shock triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when energy and fertiliser costs surged and global food prices hit record highs.’ www.ft.com/content/7efe...

For #FindsFriday this gorgeous depiction of the Deskford carnyx by Keith Henderson in Piggott’s Scotland Before History, 1958. Found c.1816 Near Deskford, just south of the Moray coast, it dates to the later 1stC AD, deposited in a bog c.2/3rdC. Now in the National Museum of Scotland. #CarnyxCrazy

Sasuke. Kyoto, Japan. Masahisa Fukase, 1977

I have so much to do.

Major yn Englisshe: • Focused readinge & writinge prepare you for anythinge • Research, communicacioun, creativitye, and interpretacioun will be needed for careers not even inventid yet • Meaningful engagement wyth big ideas and textes that will staye wyth you forevir • It ys awesome • Bookes!

New The poisoning of the wells Why discrediting election results without waiting for due process is unhealthy for a democracy This week's Weekly Constitutional by me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk

But what about international law – continued. A new post at The Empty City on how Western one-sidedness in what they openly condemn as a breach of international law is neither coherent nor compelling Personal blog: theemptycity.com/blog/2026/03... Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/but-what-a...

In 1787, Robert Burns acquired a diamond-tipped pen which he used to inscribe poems on windows & chimney-pieces across Scotland. “I Murder Hate” is Burns’s version of “make love, not war” #graffiti, & was etched into a window at the Globe Tavern, Dumfries #WyrdWednesday #C18 #poem #poetry

street level, print studio, sharmanka, project ability -- an incredible loss if these institutions aren't found appropriate new locations

Private Eye

Of course they do. Their feet can hardly touch the pedals Cut them some bloody slack…

God, I want to repost this, and for everyone else to repost it until their eyes roll back in their heads. Seriously. We carry men. We physically and mentally and emotionally, and literally carry them.

This.

"Is a bodega some kind of portmanteau?" What? Norwich people? What.