China. Travel. Music. Sport. Culture. Whatever. Free Palestine.
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Send him to the Hague Smotrich demanded harsher measures against Palestinians who remain βIn my opinion, you can besiege them. Whoever doesnβt evacuate, donβt let them. No water, no electricity; let them die of hunger or surrender This is what we want, and youβre capable (of doing it)β is.gd/Att1IK
You must be incredibly proud of what you're doing, Ed. I'm sure it's frustrating at times, heartbreaking at others, but incredibly important. Indeed, C4 have been head & shoulders above many in their reporting in Gaza for a long time
Anyway, hopefully the red cross I just painted on the roundabout will bring the good times back
I feel there's a sad poetry in this Birkenhead building going from a nightclub (& carpet shop), to an alternative church, to an abandoned husk. Joy, then hope, then despair.
It almost goes without saying at this point but this is also a hospital.
I'm pleased they reopened their London to London route though
Writing was on the wall when his parents named him 'Travelling Criminal' really. Self-fulfilling prophecy. Sad.
By ticking off Capital Airport Subdistrict today, I've now visited over 1/2 of Beijing's subdistrict-level divisions since I set out in April to try to tick all 343 off
I'm generally a fan of craft beers, but have to admit I'm yet to find a craft stout I like more than plain old Guinness from a tap. Any recommendations now we're on the road to winter? Not tried many porters at all, either. But back in The UK in October so will try to pick some up.
Indeed, were I born in Tibet, I'd be expected to live 0.6 yrs longer than if I grew up in my neighbour ward, Birkenhead & Tranmere (70.0). As it happens, I'm from Rock Ferry. I'm expected to live 0.4 longer, in one of the richest countries in the world, than if I was born in the isolated mountains
Tibet is home to some of the most extreme terrain, isolated communities, impenetrable mountains. You almost couldn't design a more difficult situation for providing healthcare. It has a higher male life expectancy (70.6) than parts of Blackpool (68.4), Middlesborough (69.5), & Clacton (68.7)
I should also point out here that my intention is absolutely not at all to detract from the suffering in other poor areas, like Blackpool. A life expectancy of 68.4, in 2025, in one of the richest countries in the world, is a national disgrace & we ought to be absolutely ashamed
I was a bit overoptimistic about how 'middle' The Wirral - general - was. It's 288th out of 340 for men, & 271st for women. The issue remains though - it's low, but not alarm bells low. Just like it's 'in the bottom 20%' for deprevation, but not low enough for serious response.
There will of course be areas of Glasgow, Blackpool, everywhere on that list, with lower life expectancy than that. That goes without saying. It's how averages work. But somewhere as unequal as The Wirral, averages become a big issue & don't provide the snapshot they should.
I suspect the reason Glasgow no longer has the official lowest life expectancy in the country is b/c a lot of work went into changing that. The issue was made front & center. But Birkenhead has a lower life expectancy than both Glasgow & Blackpool. Only, 'Wirral' doesn't.
One of the frustrating things here, & it's long been an issue for Birkenhead securing the support it needs, is that usually in nationwide stats, you just get a general 'Wirral'. & extreme wealth combined with poverty gives you a nice middle-of-the-road mean, so it's overlooked.
Not one of you will be surprised to hear that the 4 most economically deprived areas (wards) on the Wirral are: Birkenhead & Tranmere, Bidston & St James, Rock Ferry (ππ»ββοΈ), & Seacombe. Here's the stats for women.
The male life expectancy in Birkenhead & Tranmere is 70. In West Kirby & Thurstaston, it's 83.4. A 20 minute drive, 13 extra years of life. The Wirral: truly the unequal peninsula.
Israeli settlement that would split the occupied West Bank in half was approved this morning. βThe Palestinian state is being erased from the table not by slogans but by deeds. Every settlement, every neighborhood, every unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea,β Smotroch declared.
Today I'd like you to remember ε°η½ - the guardian of Fengtai & a welcome face whenever returning home, no matter the time or the weather. I hope he is barking at three wheelers & eating chicken bones in the great ε°εΊ car park in the sky ππ»
But that's a drastic, last resort option, & it doesn't disappear just because of this possible reprive
Think the issue for Morecambe is that they weren't in the frying pan - they were already deep in the fire & almost charcoal. You take just about anything in that situation, as even a temporary stay of execution is better than certain death & buys you a bit of extra time to work out the future.
Keir Hardie: "Socialism will abolish the landlord class, the capitalist class & the working-class. That is revolution, that the working-class, by its actions, will one day abolish class distinctions" Happy birthday Keir! (he'd be kicked out of Labour today for being far left!)
The Beijing Capital Airport Express now has its own merch ππ»
I keep a list π always have done (never seen Moldy Peaches!)
I've seen 382 bands live. Pick a number from 1 to 382 & I'll tell you which one that was. Who knows, you might find something new π
Is the suggestion here that those wrongly imprisoned should be kept there 'just in case'? I'm not sure I even understand the arguement they're making about 'white libs' here.
Wow! Very cool, & food looks great. All vegetarian?
Nice lunch in Govinda's at the Soho Street Krishna Temple which was gifted to ISKON by George Harrison then a visit upstairs to the Temple room - it's a cool and quiet place away from the madness and materialism of Oxford Street London. Hare Krishna
In many ways a trendsetter you might say. x.com/search?q=fro...
Also I wrote a tweet about blue skies today & now it's gonna look like I got a memo! I promise, I just like blue skies!
I am quite surprised by that. It was wet & windy today. Not usually conducive to poor air quality - especially PM10 π³
For me, less the latter. A bit of the former - not a ton for a boy from Rock Ferry to do, workwise (hence the 0 hr). But also simply because I didn't have anywhere to work at home, & my laptop was crap (& couldn't afford a new one) bsky.app/profile/chin...
Back when I worked on a zero hour catering contract, on days without work I'd often go to Liverpool Library, where I'd work on my CV, job hunt, or sometimes research & write articles to bolster my portfolio. If only they'd renamed the library 'pretend to work', id have made it into global news.
Israel now considers independent journalists to be terrorists. They admit targeting Al Jazeera reporters and cameraman and deliberately killing them. I don't know how anyone can defend Israel's war crimes.
Anas & his colleagues, like many brave journalists before them, gave their lives to ensure we could never say we 'didn't know'. It's your duty & mine to make sure the people who allowed this can't look away. We owe it to Anas, & the millions of Palestinians our leaders have failed.
BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.
The suffering of my fellow humans weighs heavy on my soul. It brings Buki joy. I'd suggest it's the latter that indicates issues with mental health.
The duality of Chinese restaurants
The most arduous section of the Long March was through the swampy grasslands of northern Sichuan. Thousands died there. Now theyβre building a high speed railway line and they have roadside coffee carts ( βLatte brings long life and wealthβ).
No major shift planned for the next few seasons, but never say never. It's a pretty sure fire way to jump the shark & appeal to a new audience a la Drew Pavlou.
Mentougou, Fangshan, & Changping all have the benefit of some incredible & beautiful mountains & natural scenery, while also being on the Subway system. Mentougou probably just edges it ahead of Changping for ease of access - though Changping has the benefit its hot springs.
Afriad I'm not much of a gamer these days. Maybe I'd like to trap those that have wronged me in bubbles though?
& speaking of the south: I've been to Guangzhou a few times & have quite a few friends there. Was planning to move there before Beijing even. But haven't been for some time, & never to Zhuhai or HK! A trip is long overdue
Hmm, who knows? If I was to move, I'd probably move to the South, since I've spent time in the North & East
It's a good question that I'm going to cheat a little on I'm afraid. I don't have any cities per se. But my dream would be to get a camper van & check out Xinjiang, rural Sichuan, &/or the Southwest. All areas that look beautiful but are not that accessible for me right now.
Anyway, long story short, nothing in my time in China has really given me that sinking, pit in the stomach, heart racing feeling that I suppose is anxiety. Not even close. Most of my anxiety these days is existential. But hey, don't we all have that right now?
I used to struggle to sleep quite often then. I remember seeing a truck saying 'Night Freight' on it & reading it as 'Night Fright', thinking it was there to take away the people who frightened me at night. Was upset they were still there the next day. Grateful to be ζθΏζ· π
...someone was sleeping on a matress on the wasteland for a week. Quite regular violent fights. One of them was quite frequently referred to as a paedophile & most seemed to agree (even thinking of his face now gives me shivers. Alan, that fucker.)
& then the period before our house in Rock Ferry was compulsary purchased to be knocked down by the council, when the abandoned one two doors down was a drug den. That really terrified me. Some very scary people there as a kid. Someone smashed their head through a window...
Once on the Ordsall Estate in Salford when I was staying with my Aunt as a kid & someone rammed a flaming car into the wall at night. Once on the Harrogate Estate in New Ferry when a lad told me he had a knife on him & then kept lunging into his pocket (I ended up legging it)
I wouldn't choose to live here if it made me feel anxious. Off the top of my head, I've seen an alright amount of the World & I've only ever felt anxious three times (about non existential things). At least, in the sense that a place & what's happening there is making me anxious anyway.
SOPHIE, you are sorely missed. Icon β€οΈ youtu.be/PB5tnokRFS0?...
Lou Reed & The Kinks were singing about trans women decades before I was born! Long live woke pop. I'm going to listen to SOPHIE's excellent 'Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides' on my bike ride later in honour of this question.
Liverpool having a large Irish diaspora, I know lots of people who got Irish passports through grandparents. But despite my Irish surname, my lineage goes back too far to qualify. So British & British only I remain.
Ha! It's been a while since I've been accused of sending myself questions. Thanks for that!
In fairness, just before Brexit I did look into trying to get a Belgian passport (my grandmother was Belgian) so I could remain an EU citizen (alongside my British one of course). But alas, they're a bit more strict than some other EU countries, so it wasn't possible
I wouldn't say I'm any more bored today than usual. I like these Q&As. It's fun to be open & honest, & like that you can ask things you might otherwise feel uncomfortable with. Also, it has a block feature, so I've mostly rooted out the abusive ones lol
They have their own currency now? π³
Rather you than me brother. Maths for fun? No thanks.
Yeah, Substack is the China Yang to Twitter's Yin. Or vice versa. I'm not so hot at Chinese philosophy, try as I might.
Well who knows, perhaps we'll bump into each other on the metro some day. Stranger things have happened!
(I should point out for full clarity that that happened before my Facebook was shared, but that it was shared *after* I'd changed my privacy settings following the first dox has made me even more cautious)
Pretty much everything about me has been doxxed in some way since I started using Twitter. Whatever. But when you've received threatening messages calling your mother by her full name & had people making fake accounts of your little brother, you're naturally a bit more careful.
Last time I answered this honestly, a few days later someone shared my private Facebook account, where you can easily find my family & loved ones. I don't know how, or how related that was, but I'm more careful with my privacy now.
Bagel_Saab
(also it goes without saying, & goes not just for you but anyone reading this, if you're ever in Beijing & fancy a bite to eat, a quick coffee, or a couple of beers and a chat, don't hesitate to drop me a message. Always nice to meet new people & hear their stories!)
Glad to be of service! & I agree. Always fun to see it through someone elses eyes too. & especially those from a similar background. Just as I find it exciting to see my home country (& especially my city) through the eyes of Chinese people, now that I've lived here some time.
So I started talking classes about 3 years ago & have kept up with that ever since. 2h per week. But still a long way to go. Certainly not proud of the level I'm at given how long I've been here.
I do, but I'm not happy with my level. My vocab is ok, pronunciation & reading fine, but I get tangled up in sentence structure sometimes & get stuck in my own head which makes things worse. Originally I just picked it up through osmosis, but hit a ceiling doing so.
with a similar mindset, in similar situations on the other side of the world, & see how they react, compare it to how I would, & do, & have. youtu.be/I6t3sKEGGtc?...
I also really like Araf's stuff because it's just like being with a mate, but the lad has been lucky enough to not actually meet me in person yet. Enjoy his outlook & style. It's like chatting with an old friend! Think we have similar backgrounds etc so it's fun to see someone from a similar place
& much of the little I've seen & liked - well, those people have ended up my friends. & I can have those conversations in person. Although with all that said, there are a few exceptions. I really like Doug's deepdives that are too complex for us to hash out over bbq. youtu.be/TcmtuvaVU1A?...
The truth is, I don't really, & never have. I live in China, write about China, read about China. I don't really need it. YouTube is a chance to slip away from that sometimes. The other unfortunate truth though is much of the little I have seen is just...a bit crap.
Who doesn't? & who isn't? If you think you're the former but not the latter, you'd either be the first, or you're misled &/or misleading yourself
I do, sometimes. It's quite good for city planning & transport related stuff. But on China, I get little interaction here. It's too quiet. & the little stuff I do see in the China space mostly just seems to be Andy Boreham watch. I like conversation. Don't really get that here.
Time to open this months anonymous Q&A inbox. As ever, feel free to send over any questions you have - on China, life, life in China, or pretty much anything you fancy - & I'll do my best to answer. It's all entirely anonymous, & I'll answer in the π§΅ππ» ngl.link/curtexplores...
Sky as beautiful as ever ππ»
Hope you packed your scuba gear!
China cuts electricity emissions during the first half of 2025. A nearly 23% rise in clean energy generation was the main driver, as higher volumes of wind and solar reduced the output from fossil fuels. Total power generation from thermal plants (almost entirely coal) dropped by 4% from a year ago.
"it seemed to us like this was almost like a game of target practice. We're going to shoot the head today. Tomorrow it'll be the chest. The next day it'll be the testicles" British surgeon Nick Maynard on IDF soldiers shooting Palestinian kids.
Israeli attacks kill 113 Palestinians and wound over 500 in Gaza in 24 hours - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-attacks-kill-113-palestinians-and-wound-over-500-gaza-24-hours
Anyway, I'll take my own flawed advice & listen to some music, see if I hear something new in something old. Love u x
& I know it gets better. & I know some of you guys like me & am glad I'm here. Thanks, & sorry. & I know some of you don't, but for whatever reason still want to listen, & thanks for listening even though its me. Its just my mind at the moment. I'm just being honest. Just an update on life I guess.
& I'm not looking for sympathy here. Fucking woe is I, poor fella in his comfortable life with his comfortable job & loving partner. Boo fucking hoo. I know, trust me. I'm aware. I feel the same.
But right now, & for a few months now, I don't know what I want. Where to go. What to do. What I even can do. What I offer. What I can even offer. Whether what I offer is even a net good. What I can do to make things better, because I don't think I am. & in some ways that's the most terrifying
When I was in a relationship a couple of years ago that was killing me & eating me up, that made me feel trapped & helpless, like there was no way out but destroying myself further, all I ever wanted was someone I loved as much as they loved me. & I love Shishi so much. I'm so blessed.
When I was teaching until 9pm in a training center every weekend, all I ever wanted was a real, 9 to 5, Monday to Friday job that I could write on my CV & tell people without seeing their eyes roll. Sure, I just work in an office. But sometimes my name is in print. That's always exciting.
...same lab until the day I retire. It doesn't always feel it - it's now the norm. But I live in the bustling, ancient capital megalopolis on the other side of the wor, a million miles away in all respects from Birkenhead, & a job testing fabric softner at Unilever.
When I was a kid, all I ever wanted was to grow up without the constant financial stress of my parents. I'm not a rich man, but it's true, I don't have the same steess they did. When I graduated university, all I ever wanted was to do something more interesting than working in the...
Gaza extermination: Hasan should have turned three. Instead, he starved to death - https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-extermination-hasan-should-have-turned-three-instead-he-starved-death
Of the 16 Premier League kits released so far for the coming season, half have gambling companies as the front of shirt sponsor (via @the_kit_parade on Twitter)
Woke up miserable & have yet to shake it. The World is taking its toll on me of late. Here I am during better times (5 days ago)
Do not approach this man
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