susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The bit I don't understand is how anyone could read OMW and not go on to read every one of the sequels! Redshirts was my first, and I've read them all so far, I definitely have favourites but there's not one I haven't enjoyed. 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 23/09/2026It was very emotional. What an astonishing series, and the way that Apted acknowledged his initial prejudices, and the warmth and affection for him so many of them displayed at the end was really moving. 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 23/09/2026It was a wonderful debut, Nigella. Congratulations! 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Since I am from another galaxy, far far away (the UK) I had to look up what the hell the "m'lady unpleasantness" was. I am speechless (almost); what led those idiots to think that might work on women? Please tell me it died out because nobody would sleep with them and thus perpetuate their genes.. 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Yes, but have you forgotten that there is a quest to cut down the tallest tree in the forest with.....a herring? At least a shrubbery would be safe from such an ignominious fate. 010
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Confirmation, if we still needed it, that Trump's America and the manosphere are one and the same thing. 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 08/09/2026I've now got an infinite number too! Long may it last. I adored this story - there are so very many things that are good about it. 011
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Many, many congratulations! It is so very well deserved - an absolutely terrific series. 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 20/08/2026So you are an influencer! I wish (and expect) great success to your friend in the future. /fin 110
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 20/08/2026 The combination worried me; I might have assumed that the combo of KU and 77p indicated lack of popularity/quality, and been warned off. But then I thought "Scalzi recommends, I'll give it a go." Result is I loved the first, am half way through the second, and will definitely order the third. /2 110
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Just in case you are reading this, Scalzi, you can tell your friend that as a result of this thread I ordered the book mentioned on kindle unlimited, and then saw that the first in the series was on sale for 77p. /1 110
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 15/08/2026And a troubled young man is now dead, and academics of colour are even more in the crosshairs of racist and rightwing polemicists to whom anything "woke" is irresistible material for propaganda. It's horrific. /9 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 15/08/2026And that, acting on the most debased understanding of what should constitute real diversity and inclusion, they carelessly and unprofessionally opened the way for this whole tragic situation. /8 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 15/08/2026And for the racist frameworks in the university's recruitment to be considered and corrected. If the allegations turn out to be true, it looks as if the panel who appointed him, the chair of which said his work was "the best in the world in his subject" behaved in an extraordinarily careless way./7 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 14/08/2026The reason I bring the Arday case up in this discussion about Woke 1 is because apparently, 2 years before he was appointed, an open letter from 150 Cambridge students was published calling for the university recruitment practises to be "decolonised". /6 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 14/08/2026Even if all these allegations turn out to be true, in which case he would be delusional at best and dishonest at worst, the people who are truly to blame for the situation and his death are the academics at Cambridge who clearly did not perform their duties adequately when they appointed him. /5 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 14/08/2026and c) his stated version of his developmental issues. This last has the least credible evidence so far, but people who say they were at primary school with him have disputed his claim that he was non-verbal til he was 11. Some have said he never stopped cracking jokes. /4 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 14/08/2026The facts about Arday are not yet definitely known, but there seems to be reasonably credible evidence of a) plagiarism in his academic work, b) falsification in his claims of athletic and charitable activity /3 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 14/08/2026The issue has been unsurprisingly eagerly taken up by racist rightwingers, leading to understandable and inevitable anxiety among academics of colour, and fears about the possible effects to ensure greater diversity in recruitment and hiring. /2 110
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 14/08/2026Having read further down the thread, I just want to clarify. The recent tragic death of Jason Arday looks as if it might have been a consequence of the phenomenon we are calling Woke 1. There is no doubt that he has been harassed and subjected to horrific pressure since the so-called scandal broke 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 13/08/2026I have that one too! It works (and I don't find it particularly unpleasant either). If you do it as soon as you notice you've been bitten the bump doesn't even come up... 010
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 24/07/2026And the understandable progressive attitude, which I share in other contexts, in this case that one must accept what any individual says is their identity and that it should automatically translate to absolute access to all the rights of natal women presents real dangers to women. /fin 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 24/07/2026and trans people should have equal protections too, but not at the expense of natal women. Unfortunately, there are a subset of predatory men claiming to be trans in order to gain access to women in places where women have previously felt safe./4 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 24/07/2026And surveys show that 45-55% of trans people at the moment have no intention of having "bottom surgery". So if traumatised women are presented with fully intact males claiming to be women, their concerns should be taken seriously. Women fought hard for their protections, /3 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 24/07/2026and that (with tiny samples, of course) trans women in prison seem to commit violent crime at the same rate as biological me, there are many places (i.e. rape crisis centres) where women have a well-justified fear of men. /2 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 24/07/2026No. There is no innate biological difference between women of colour and white women, nor any statistics which show that the former are under any particular threat from the latter. Because of the fact that violent crime (in the UK) is 98% committed by biological men /1 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Out of curiosity, do you differentiate between people who are truly anti-trans ("they are sick degenerates or faking it to spy on nude women") and people who have absolutely nothing against trans people but think e.g. there should still be certain places for biological women only? 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Well, despite the fact that I'm not really interested in football, I was pleased by the result (and only watched) because a) I didn't want Javier Milei to get a win, and b) Spain were clearly much more skilful and played much more cleanly. And a plus: Trump is super-anti Spain at the moment. 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 20/07/2026OMG that is the cutest of the current display, and that's really saying something! 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 07/07/2026I reckon the fuckup was Trump's when he put his thumb on the scale. The whole world was outraged, and both the eventual score, and the Belgian team's post afterwards "Overturn this" were highly gratifying. Their "Trump dance" afterward was just a delightful bonus. 010
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 12/06/2026This is not newsworthy. Now, if you had a very garlic-forward lunch today, and persisted in BEING a vampire, that would be news... 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 06/06/2026Wow, Krissy for scale makes it clear how big those trees are! Absolutely lovely. 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 01/06/2026And as if they weren't cut enough, their babies are called pufflings. 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 18/05/2026Katie, my dutch spy tells me you will probably have luck with Holtkamp or Kwekkeboom. She says she doesn't know if they do hampers, but they do cakes and cookies and she's pretty sure they deliver! Good luck xxx 110
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 17/05/2026I adore the Old Man's War series, the Radch Empire series, the Wayfarers and Murderbot. Always in the market for more character and idea-based sci-fi (as opposed to "hard sci-fi") and fantasy, and very keen to receive good recommendations! 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 16/05/2026since the recipe and method must surely have been relayed by an angel, who then in passing had remarked that with the leftover whites, you could make meringues! I only hope to that god in whom I do not believe that I have remembered this correctly..... /2 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 16/05/2026I read this decades ago, loved it and never forgot it (can't say the same about all the very many books I read then, and have read since). The only thing wrong with the piece is that from what I remember I'm pretty sure it was mayonnaise that convinced Aunt Irene that there was a god /1 000
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 12/03/2026We are so far beyond calling these people inhumane that even the OED is at a loss. 010
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 08/02/2026I particularly loved its subversiveness. 100
susieb451.bsky.social @susieb451.bsky.social · 20/01/2026I have never seen anything like it. I switched channels after about 25 minutes. How is it possible that this rambling, mendacious, incoherent man is still POTUS? The Republicans can never (and should never) live down not having taken steps to remove him when his deterioration became so evident. 000
