Monthly Archives: May 2014

Nobody likes a know-it-all

Posted on May 29, 2014 by dwighttowers

At work yesterday someone said words to the effect  “You know something about everything, don’t you?” I demurred, pointing out that she only remembered the times that I had something useful to add. [I see you at the back there … Continue reading →

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Who doesn’t like “resilience”? The rich and powerful. Duh.

Posted on May 24, 2014 by dwighttowers

“Even as the ACCCRN attempted to expand and perpetuate actor-networks, it came across a countervailing force in the form of ‘patron-client networks’ that were already in operation in these policy settings. This is a network within which a powerful actor … Continue reading →

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Talk, talk, about the dying of the light

Posted on May 21, 2014 by dwighttowers

Thanks to an undeserved dose of luck (an oxymoron tautology,  I know), Things Will Soon Be Different (better, I think!). And the opening gusts of that storm we call progress are upon me. I’ve encountered “grounded theory“. It’s a very … Continue reading →

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Dreadful “poem” #94

Posted on May 17, 2014 by dwighttowers

Dreadful “poem” #94 We are implicated, imbricated, consolidated and complicated We are encumbered incumbents, fearful in the comfortable forts of our manufactured needs and wants. We are in a river of oil, stepped so far that returning were as tedious … Continue reading →

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Consequences of failure of the #climate “movement” (the first/second/third time round)

Posted on May 13, 2014 by dwighttowers

There are plenty, but here are the three that are in the front of my mind right now, besides all the dead people and all the dead species from our (and I mean me too) idiocy and self-indulgence these last … Continue reading →

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Notes on competence, availability and reliability

Posted on May 12, 2014 by dwighttowers

Clearly if you’re going to embark on big (and unpaid) projects with people, it helps if they have Competence Remember – competence is a social phenomenon. It is hard for an eagle to soar when surrounded by turkeys. If your … Continue reading →

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The White Flag of Surrender

Posted on May 7, 2014 by dwighttowers

It’s over. And beneath the self-contempt for having quit, there’s the rueful reckoning that it is the right thing, for me at least. For the last 16 months I’ve tried, alongside two people whom I have a lot of respect … Continue reading →

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The Emperor’s New… nudist colony

Posted on May 6, 2014 by dwighttowers

Let’s get over the idea that our lords and masters are shame-able. The little boy calls it out and a) is denounced as a communist/terrorist-sympathiser and gets his skinny ass rendered to Gitmo and/or b) is derided as “unrealistic” and … Continue reading →

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Meetings – Grauniad hack writes stonkingly good piece

Posted on May 2, 2014 by dwighttowers

http://www.theguardian.com/news/oliver-burkeman-s-blog/2014/may/01/meetings-soul-sucking-waste-time-you-thought Useful links in it too.

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Brilliant take-down of this idiotic word “community”

Posted on May 1, 2014 by dwighttowers

Words can hide/muddy more than they reveal. This is a double-plus-ungood thing, but there you are. Words like “sustainability”, or “resilience”. And the word “community” too. http://vulnerabilityandpoverty.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/why-do-we-pretend-there-is-community.html As people prepare for the 8th International Community Based Adaptation conference in Kathmandu … Continue reading →

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