Notices by Flick 🇬🇧 (flick@spinster.xyz), page 5

@thatguyoverthere @niclas https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/1485-1660/disability-in-the-tudor-court/

These fascinating glimpses of ‘natural fools’ at the Tudor court show people with learning disabilities playing significant roles in the lives of the Tudor elite.

Their perceived lack of guile, their directness and their humour were valued as assets and woven into the fabric of court life. Believed to be closer to God and closer to the truth than other people, the ‘natural fools’ occupied a unique and valued position.

@thatguyoverthere Of course it was. Obviously.

@thatguyoverthere In the box two down and one across from the end of the shelves.

Oh, wait, that’s where mine is.

@thatguyoverthere @amerika Very good point.

@amerika 23.

@thatguyoverthere Thank you!

@thatguyoverthere Are the biscuits for dipping in your cups (of tea)?

@feld @thatguyoverthere Yes, those machines are very nifty.

There’s also some really interesting work going on involving developing birds that only lay eggs of one sex (by manipulating the incubation temperature of the to-be laying bird’s egg).

I wonder if spotting AI text/images/voices is going to turn into one of those really niche but unteachable roles, like chick sexing or being a super-spotter.

@thatguyoverthere I think black and white would be too stark. If you’re putting that many LEDs on it, it’s going to be plenty bright enough already: it’s a bookshelf, not a spotlight!

@thatguyoverthere Apparently not!

@sim @animeirl @coolboymew I’ve seen various theories over the years, including that it’s anti-Irish, because of witchcraft stereotypes, and left over from the Danes and Vikings invading.

Iirc, wasn’t Lilith a redhead in some versions?

@thatguyoverthere Cup?

@amerika @D00B @Wisconsin_Kraut The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there.

@thatguyoverthere Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder:

In the middle of the morning, Mother blew the dinner horn. Almanzo knew what that meant. He stuck his pitchfork in the ground, and went running and skipping down across the meadows to the house. Mother met him on the back porch with the milk-pail, brimming full of cold egg-nog.

The egg-nog was made of milk and cream, with plenty of eggs and sugar. Its foamy top was freckled with spices, and pieces of ice floated in it. The sides of the pail were misty with cold. Almanzo trudged slowly toward the hayfield with the heavy pail and a dipper.

[…]

When he reached the hayfield, everyone stopped work. They stood in the shade of an oak and pushed back their hats, and passed the dipper from hand to hand till all the egg-nog was gone.

[…]

Father always maintained that a man could do more work in his twelve hours, if he had a rest and all the egg-nog he could drink, morning and afternoon.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-are-feminists-like-me-being-labelled-far-right/

Now, thanks to the persistence of journalist Andrew Lawton from Canada’s online publication, True North, the behind the scenes conversations that led to my cancellation have been revealed. Freedom of Information requests have shown that, unusually, the booking for my lecture was directed to the very top: library boss Michael Ciccone. In an email to colleagues, Ciccone declared, ‘She’s definitely controversial and would draw protests and attention. She considered (sic) a Terf and leans far-right without totally going there.’ Quite what it means to ‘lean far-right’ but ‘without totally going there’ is anyone’s guess. But it certainly sounds like something that would horrify my revolutionary communist younger-self.

Clearly unsure as to whether he could simply ban me from speaking, Ciccone sought advice. He emailed other library heads to ask, ‘Has anyone else received this request for a room booking?’ before stating: ‘The author appears to be of the Megan Murphy (sic) ilk.’

@ArtistBristol https://archive.ph/d8MFR

@realcaseyrollins @djsumdog @Piss_Ant Yup.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-euthanasia-for-babies-canada-finds-itself-sliding-down-a-slippery/

appeared before the Special Joint Committee of Medical Assistance in Dying and raised the notion of extending assisted dying to babies up to a year old “who are born with severe deformations, very grave and severe medical syndromes, whose life expectancy and level of suffering are such that it would make sense to ensure that they do not suffer.” This would, in practice, be euthanasia. Speaking on behalf of the college’s board of directors, Dr. Roy noted that the protocol is already in practice in the Netherlands (albeit, in extremely rare circumstances).

https://archive.ph/7s1pE

Weather forecaster: This morning’s fog across the north of England has now lifted….

Me:

@thatguyoverthere Pretty much. Bring on the asteroid.