An elegy, of sorts
This is a wee graveyard, as you can see; but it's my graveyard, the graveyard local to me. And I've come here to talk about truth, and belief, and honesty, and death, and Scotland's place as a nation, and contested versions, because it's a good place to do that.
This is my mother's grave, and my wee sister's. My mother was a historian, and a Quaker, as I was much of my life; she wanted a plain gravestone, with just her name and dates, in the Quaker tradition. My wee sister Jenny was not a Quaker, as I'm not now; and she was mischievous and iconoclastic and kept hideous pug dogs; and she wanted her dug on her stane; and her death was so unexpected and so tragic that we'd none of us the heart to deny her.
Death, glory, and computer games
Let's suppose for a moment that you're a member — the most junior member, the rookie — of a squad. Your squad may be police, it may be corporate security, it may be a criminal gang; this doesn't matter. What does matter is that it exists in an environment in which all these things exist, and compete; in which they compete using lethal force.
As the rookie, you've been issued with a weapon. It isn't a very good weapon; it's old, worn out, not particularly powerful; and you're not yet very skilled in its use. But this doesn't matter; there are half a dozen other folk in your squad who are all more experienced and better armed than you. Your leader is a very experienced — famous, perhaps notorious — combat veteran. You feel safe, and your squad is moderately successful.
On Violence, with reference to the invasion of Ukraine
the photograph shows the Czech activist Jan Palach burning himself to death in the aftermath of the Warsaw Pact invasion. Note that I am not certain whether this is an image of Palach himself, or of an actor playing him in a film of the event made in 2018.
Czechoslovakia
Plan for Smallholders UK week
I'm in charge of the @SmallholdersUK account next week. This is my overall plan for the week.
Monday: Standingstone
Introduction: programme for the week
The Union: Sketch outine for a Cyberpunk mod
Preconditions
This mod becomes available after you have completed at least the Pisces side quest.