![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
bbc_feed) wrote2025-09-01 03:14 pm
bbc_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:56 pmbbc_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:54 pmscalziwhatever_feed) wrote2025-09-01 03:02 pm
So, we kept the black kitten.
I want to stress this was not the plan all along. I did in fact have a new home scheduled for this kitten, but then, more or less at the last minute, the people at the new home had a change in circumstances that made receiving a new kitten not possible. Which is fine, sometimes that happens. This gave Athena, who had been angling to keep the black kitten, another chance to plead her case, and by this time both Krissy and I had spent enough time with him to warm to the idea. So the original kitten recipient’s unfortunate loss is our now our gain.
We did, of course, have some concern as to how the other pets might receive to the new kitten, and the short answer is, it’s been mixed, but not disastrously so. Charlie loves and is obsessed with the kitten and follows it wherever it goes, and fortunately the new kitten seems to like Charlie. Smudge was like “oh, I guess there’s a new kitten now,” and doesn’t seem to be overly bothered.
Sugar and Spice, on the other hand, are unpleased:
However, so far their response has been to avoid the new kitten when possible rather than to attempt to murder it, and there already have been instances of the new kitten napping in the same room as one or the other of these two without bloodshed. I so suspect that, as with the arrival of Smudge a few years back, there will be a week or two of adjustment to the new kitten being all up in their space, and then a new “normal” where everyone has their new general territories and life goes on. We’ve had four cats before, and these three cats were part of that living arrangement. I suspect they’ll get used to it again, and quickly.
It’s helpful that the kitten is exceedingly well-tempered, at least so far. He’s not a jerk to the other cats, nor is he afraid of them or of Charlie. He’s very affectionate and curious when it comes to the humans, and overall seems pretty comfortable with his surroundings. He acts like this has always been his home, which is reassuring. He’s still a kitten, mind you, which means getting into a little bit of trouble and being inconveniently underfoot and so on, all the usual kitten stuff. But that’s what makes kittens adorable, and everything suggests that when he’s not a kitten anymore he’ll be an excellent cat.
What we don’t have yet is an official name for the kitten. Earlier, Athena suggested “Shoyu,” which is a type of soy sauce (the kitten’s black fur has a brown sheen in strong light), but it’s not sticking. I’ve offered up “Śuri,” which is an Etruscan volcano god, whose name derives from the Etruscan word for “black,” but this may be too esoteric. I think what we may end up doing is just letting the kitten be around and seeing what name fits him. I will say that I’ve been taking to calling him “Fuzz Butt” as a shorthand, and while I don’t think that’s going to end up being his official name, it’s useful on a temporary basis, and also, entirely truthful. Some official name will present itself in time. Yes, you are allowed to offer suggestions in the comments. Please note we may ignore them entirely. But I know that won’t stop you.
So, please welcome this new kitten, He Who Is Temporarily and Unofficially Known as “Fuzz Butt,” to the Scalzi household, and also as the newest official Scamperbeast. He’s a delight and we look forward to lots of adventures with him. He is an accidental kitten, but then, “accidental kittens” is what we specialize in around here. Our cats have a history of just showing up. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
— JS
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
larryhammer) wrote2025-09-01 08:09 amguardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:45 pmPrime minister says Reform has ‘no reason to exist if problems are solved’ as he says he wants asylum hotels emptied by working through people’s cases
And while we are talking about Blair-era Labour aides, Peter Hyman, who wrote speeches for Tony Blair and later worked for Keir Starmer in the run-up to the general election, has launched a new Substack blog. It is called Changing the Story, which tells you quite a lot about what he thinks is going wrong with No 10. Here is an extract from his first post.
Starmer is an ‘opportunity’ prime minister forced to become a ‘security’ one. And that’s why the government’s narrative is seen by some to be elusive.
Let me explain.
I remember well Tim Allan’s leaving drinks at Number 10 in the earlyish Blair era. In his fulsome farewell speech Tony Blair noted only half jokingly “Tim’s even more right wing than me..”
The same Tim Allan who as head of Portland had a contract to polish Vladimir Putin’s reputation?
Continue reading...guardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:39 pmHere’s a roundup of all the deadline-day transfer chat:
“Was Vinny Samways ‘tough-tackling’? I always remembered him as more a cultured midfielder,” writes Andrew Champney. One deadline day not dominated by Vinny Samways, all I ask. Will never happen. But did you know he spent six years at Las Palmas? Nice work if you can get it.
Continue reading...guardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:30 pmSunday’s match was defined by a brilliant free-kick, but the way it came about showed the difference between the clubs’ managers
There was a time, not that long ago, when almost all big games were stiflingly tense affairs – cautious, cagey, almost unwatchable but for the exquisite tension, the sense that this was too important to expect the football to be entertaining. The goal-heavy thrillers of the Pep Guardiola-Jürgen Klopp rivalry were a welcome diversion, but they always felt oddly transgressive – were we sure major clashes were supposed to be that much fun? In that sense, Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday fit into a long-established tradition; in time the tedium will fall away in the collective memory and all that will remain is the majesty of Dominik Szoboszlai’s match-winning free-kick.
Two other more recent traditions were observed amid the anxiety of Anfield: that Arne Slot will always somehow find a way, and that Arsenal will always somehow come up short. Few managers have ever had such a golden touch as Slot; he has a remarkable capacity to make decisions that don’t just change the outcome of a game, but do so in an obvious and unmissable way.
This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.
Continue reading...guardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:25 pmPeople tell of losing children and other relatives and of digging their way out of the rubble after the disaster
It was almost midnight when Hameed Jan was jolted awake in his bed by a deep rumble. Powerful tremors were shaking his small house in Piran village in Afghanistan’s Kunar region and he could see the walls beginning to crack.
“I jumped out of bed and rushed to where my children and parents were sleeping,” said Jan. “I managed to rescue two of my children and brought them outside to safety. I went back inside to save my younger siblings, but as I did, the roof and walls collapsed around me.”
Continue reading...guardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:24 pmObjects including three-metre spears were collected in late 19th and early 20th centuries and donated to city’s museum
For decades, they have languished in storage in the basement of a museum in the English West Country.
Finally, an extraordinary collection of weapons and ceremonial objects taken from the Larrakia people more than a century ago is beginning a winding journey home to the saltwater landscapes of the Northern Territory in Australia.
Continue reading...guardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:19 pmMPs are voting to get rid of first past the post in mayoral elections. Doing the same at a national level would be an antidote to Reform UK
Wake up to the peril. As MPs return to parliament, they should abandon that self-deluding pretence that it could never happen here in our “moderate” and “tolerant” land. On the contrary, Britain is at more risk of a populist right takeover than many of our European neighbours. With Labour in an electoral slough of despond, and the Tories looking dead already, the reptilian grin of Nigel Farage haunts the political landscape after his satisfactory summer spent stoking division and cynicism.
Our first past the post (FPTP) elections make us particularly vulnerable. As Rob Ford, professor of politics at Manchester University, notes: “This is now a Farage-friendly electoral system.” Reform UK has reached the tipping point where winning as little as 30% support in our corkscrewed lottery of a voting system could propel him into No 10, however much that appals the other 70% of voters. “It’s certainly possible” he could be prime minister, was Farage’s implausible boast, a year ago. But as the latest poll puts his party on 35% to Labour’s 20%, it keeps getting a little more credible.
Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...guardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:15 pmForeign ministry says US will be dictating what happens once UN-wide sanctions are reimposed
Europe is on the verge of abandoning its role of a mediator between the US and Iran and instead handing the Iran nuclear file over to Donald Trump’s veto, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said in an interview with the Guardian in Tehran.
Esmail Baghaei said that as soon as UN-wide sanctions are reimposed at Europe’s demand in less than 30 days, the US will regain its security council veto over what happens next, including the continuance of the sanctions.
Continue reading...guardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:10 pmMeeting, co-chaired by France’s Emmanuel Macron and UK’s Keir Starmer, will focus on Russia’s refusal to end war
EU transport spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen also offered a bit more detail on the issue of GPS jamming and its impact on operations.
She said:
“Generally, we have been seeing a quite a lot of such jamming and spoofing activities, notably in the eastern flank of Europe.
Europe is the most concerned region in the or most affected region globally, on this.
“We are, of course, aware and used to somehow to the threats and intimidations that are [a] regular component of Russia’s hostile behaviour.
Of course, this will only reinforce even further our unshakable commitment to ramp up defence capabilities and support for Ukraine.”
“This incident actually underlines the urgency of the mission that the President is carrying out in the frontline member states.”
Continue reading...bbc_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:36 pmbbc_feed) wrote2025-09-01 01:31 pmbbc_feed) wrote2025-09-01 12:26 pmbbc_feed) wrote2025-09-01 11:11 amguardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:17 pmHere’s a roundup of all the deadline-day transfer chat:
“Was Vinny Samways ‘tough-tackling’? I always remembered him as more a cultured midfielder,” writes Andrew Champney. One deadline day not dominated by Vinny Samways, all I ask. Will never happen. But did you know he spent six years at Las Palmas? Nice work if you can get it.
Continue reading...guardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:15 pmForeign ministry says US will be dictating what happens once UN-wide sanctions are reimposed
Europe is on the verge of abandoning its role of a mediator between the US and Iran and instead handing the Iran nuclear file over to Donald Trump’s veto, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said in an interview with the Guardian in Tehran.
Esmaeil Baghaei said that as soon as UN-wide sanctions are reimposed at Europe’s demand in less than 30 days, the US will regain its security council veto over what happens next, including the continuance of the sanctions.
Continue reading...guardianworldnews_feed) wrote2025-09-01 02:12 pmPrime minister says Reform has ‘no reason to exist if problems are solved’ as he says he wants asylum hotels emptied by working through people’s cases
And while we are talking about Blair-era Labour aides, Peter Hyman, who wrote speeches for Tony Blair and later worked for Keir Starmer in the run-up to the general election, has launched a new Substack blog. It is called Changing the Story, which tells you quite a lot about what he thinks is going wrong with No 10. Here is an extract from his first post.
Starmer is an ‘opportunity’ prime minister forced to become a ‘security’ one. And that’s why the government’s narrative is seen by some to be elusive.
Let me explain.
I remember well Tim Allan’s leaving drinks at Number 10 in the earlyish Blair era. In his fulsome farewell speech Tony Blair noted only half jokingly “Tim’s even more right wing than me..”
The same Tim Allan who as head of Portland had a contract to polish Vladimir Putin’s reputation?
Continue reading...