matt2 - Network

Alcohol and music are a really enjoyable combination. There’s just no getting around it. Drinking is undoubtedly very bad for your health,...

Alcohol and music are a really enjoyable combination. There’s just no getting around it. Drinking is undoubtedly very bad for your health, but an occasional drunk karaoke night might just be a tonic for the soul.

Sort of wish I’d got a 10KWh battery rather than a 5KWh one. I’m sending 10KWh back to the grid every day (fine) but only hitting 85%...

Sort of wish I’d got a 10KWh battery rather than a 5KWh one. I’m sending 10KWh back to the grid every day (fine) but only hitting 85% self sufficiency because of our energy consumption pattern… however, ask me again in winter when the solar panels struggle to make 5KWh in a whole day. Then I’ll think I right-sized it!

Dead hedgehog in suburban London rotting on the pavement. So sad. Although I’m amazed to see a hedgehog in this heavily paved environment...

Dead hedgehog in suburban London rotting on the pavement. So sad. Although I’m amazed to see a hedgehog in this heavily paved environment really. Perhaps there are just enough gardens and hedges about to make it survivable. Although, not for the poor specimen I witnessed this morning.

The problem of immigration is actually a problem of scarcity. What do people feel short of, that migration either helps with or hinders? And...

The problem of immigration is actually a problem of scarcity. What do people feel short of, that migration either helps with or hinders? And is migration the right solution to those shortages? As ever, politics has no room for nuance.

> “Arsenal don’t have a striker. In less than two years PSG have swallowed their own losses on Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé,...

> “Arsenal don’t have a striker. In less than two years PSG have swallowed their own losses on Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Sergio Ramos, Marco Verratti, Julian Draxler, Georginio Wijnaldum, Marco Asensio, Renato Sanches, many on a free or a cancelled contract, just to tidy up the dressing room a bit and free some locker space. They signed one of the best attacking players in the world in January. This is not mentality. It’s nation-state economics.”

#arsenal

Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to ethnic cleansing. There are no words to describe how appalling this is. The world has turned into a...

Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to ethnic cleansing. There are no words to describe how appalling this is. The world has turned into a “might is right” thuggocracy in my lifetime. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/06/hamas-israel-hunger-war-in-gaza

How did I not realise until now that Mario Kart has the physics wrong: lighter characters should be faster than heavy ones!

How did I not realise until now that Mario Kart has the physics wrong: lighter characters should be faster than heavy ones!

Please explain to me how banking high six figures every year letting out HMOs to councils is anything other than parasitical. One person’s...

Please explain to me how banking high six figures every year letting out HMOs to councils is anything other than parasitical.

One person’s “passive income” is another person’s “broken nation state” I suppose.

But hey, you can also say that the declining state of the public realm makes you want to move to Dubai full time where taxes are lower!!

The lack of self-awareness is really staggering.

Plastic-eating bacteria and fungi are a good bet. Highly likely to evolve. And likely to have all sorts of unintended consequences, like...

Plastic-eating bacteria and fungi are a good bet. Highly likely to evolve. And likely to have all sorts of unintended consequences, like faster degradation of long-life products. But a net gain. Decay is just a way of life.

The Overstory, by Richard Powers, must be the best book on environmentalism I’ve read for quite some time. It gave me to care even more...

The Overstory, by Richard Powers, must be the best book on environmentalism I’ve read for quite some time. It gave me to care even more about this natural world that we live in. And that’s no mean feat.

1994 Budapest Memorandum had Ukraine give up its nuclear weapons. Given what has transpired in Ukraine since, it will be widely seen as a...

1994 Budapest Memorandum had Ukraine give up its nuclear weapons. Given what has transpired in Ukraine since, it will be widely seen as a mistake. A world with nuclear weapons may be a less safe world since the chance of their use escalates, but to not have them when others do makes for a less safe country. Citizens are not wrong to fear that.

Bonfire of environmental protections to be enacted by Labour. Simply, neither mainstream party can be trusted when it comes to preserving...

Bonfire of environmental protections to be enacted by Labour. Simply, neither mainstream party can be trusted when it comes to preserving and enhancing natural habitats. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/24/labour-nature-england-ecosystems-planning-bill-keir-starmer?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

At some point, it's just all about "fewer people and consuming less stuff" vs. "more growth of everything until it all...

At some point, it's just all about "fewer people and consuming less stuff" vs. "more growth of everything until it all breaks". The latter is winning. But I'm holding onto hope that the former is still possible.

The Overstory is a sensational novel. It made me feel deeply, ashamedly uneducated about the natural world. More than that, even. Depleted...

The Overstory is a sensational novel. It made me feel deeply, ashamedly uneducated about the natural world. More than that, even. Depleted and deficient in culture and understanding. It positions me as a lowly city-dweller, who knows so much about things of little consequence, and so little about great and significant truths of our connected life.

Not a Catholic, but there’s a twinge of sadness at the death of Pope Francis. He was a good man, I feel....

Not a Catholic, but there’s a twinge of sadness at the death of Pope Francis. He was a good man, I feel. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/21/pope-francis-dies?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Balancing rights is what civilised societies under rule of law do. The law is now clarified. I think this is a good thing. I'd love to...

Balancing rights is what civilised societies under rule of law do. The law is now clarified. I think this is a good thing. I'd love to think the world will move on from here, but I’m not expecting it. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/20/the-supreme-court-has-carefully-ringfenced-protections-for-women-thats-all-we-wanted?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Quite often, there’s no optimisation that makes everyone happy. Sometimes, someone has to lose something for another to get something....

Quite often, there’s no optimisation that makes everyone happy. Sometimes, someone has to lose something for another to get something. Compassion for all involved — winners and losers — is where we need to aspire to be. At least, we’d be a kinder country if only we could cultivate this skill more widely…