Passenger

I am writing this on Tusky, which is free software that someone had to write. It is running on an older Android phone, which someone had to assemble from components that other people had to make from raw materials that still other people had to produce.

You are reading this because it was transmitted via a sophisticated international communications system which someone had to design and someone else had to make from raw materials that someone else had to produce.

The electricity also had to be produced by someone, using machinery made by someone else.

Happy May Day, y'all. The world is nothing without our labour. Our masters know this; we should too.

RIP John Blanche, Marjane Satrapi, Anthony Head.

I was thinking about this and was struck by the thought that there have been far more deaths of nice people than of awful ones, and this is a reminder that there *are* far more nice people than awful ones. The bad may be loud and powerful but they're also outnumbered.

For those who don't read Francophone social media, there is currently hilarity.

Jordan Bardella, a fascist and the probable next president, has tweeted that "when all seemed lost, Jeanne d'Arc lit a fire. We as a nation must do likewise."

Given what happened to Jeanne d'Arc, this is pretty funny.

Lazyweb question for literature people, boosts welcome:

Cervantes' book Don Quixote is often called the first novel. Fiction writing certainly existed before that, but the novel form is a specific subset of fiction writing, and would have had a start.

In a similar way, what was the first short story?

London peeps:

This is a TEFL Workers Union picket organised with the IWW. Please pass it on, and if you want to come you'd be welcome.

Retiring the giant foam hand that says "we're #27" in favour of one that says "we're #21."

https://rsf.org/en/country/south-africa

(We have been improving, which is good, but mostly the rest of the world has been declining, which is not so good. This is the problem with ranking these things like it's a competitive tournament.)

London peeps, please retoot, and if you can attend then it'll be cool to see you.

Everyone is invited to Cooperation Day 2026 on Sat, 4 July, 11am-5pm (various sessions) at Coop Town Hub in Camden. We will look at all the different ways we can improve our lives through collective ownership, at work, around housing and in the community + build political power for cooperation.

Free tickets on https://dandelion.events/e/cooperation-day-2026 Lunch & childcare provided.