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Isabel Ruffell

@iaruffell@mastodon.scot

mastodon 4.7.2

Professor of Greek Drama and Culture at Glasgow (she/her). Sight-impaired, trans, Green

417 Followers

197 Following

50 Posts

Joined November 05, 2022

Joined:

5 Nov 2022

Joined:

5 Nov 2022

website:

https://artemisia.scot/

Imprint:

Promoted by Isabel Ruffell, Scottish Green Party, 19B Graham Street, Edinburgh EH6 5QN.

Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 2mo ago

Contemplating transitioning off Linux to #FreeBSD or #NetBSD but worried about #accessibility. Does anyone have experience of using #braille displays with the BSDs? I think BRLTTY claims to run on those platforms, but I have found FreeBSD documentation disclaiming support for braille devices, but perhaps this is outdated.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 6mo ago

Boosted by @hypebot@tacocat.space

Since this is #trans day of visibility, it seems an appropriate moment to mention that I am standing for election to the Scottish Parliament on the Glasgow regional list for the @ScottishGreens@mastodon.scot. Good luck to all the other trans and non-binary Greens who are standing across the country as part of our most diverse set of candidates yet. Given the encouraging polls and the state of competing parties, I am very hopeful that one or more of you will be making history in May. #ScotPol #UKPol

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

I haven't updated for a while: I spent yesterday at the Glasgow count, and I couldn't face using my phone, it was that tense. And joyous. So I wrote a blog post about the @ScottishGreens@mastodon.scot result in Glasgow.

http://artemisia.scot/blog/2026/05/09/feminism-southside/

This is What Feminism Looks Like: Glasgow Southside

This is What Feminism Looks Like: Glasgow Southside

It is getting on for 9pm on Friday night, and we are struggling in from the count at the Emirates to the Scottish Greens

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@smutmag That is awful. FWIW I am about to apply the battle lipstick and go canvassing for the #ScottishGreens and I fully expect to see (or at least have described) some fabulous, quirky and practical outfits. I do know who you mean, though, after 30 years at this in one form or another.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

Apparently he was convener of the cross-party group on visual impairment in the previous session. Enough said. No, thinking about it, he had no knowledge of the sighted or otherwise status of the rest of the panel: he just assumed. And we wonder at the inaccessibility of our environment, the attainment gap , employment difficulties and lack of understanding of our needs. 2/2

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@yakmacker@society.kalli.st @TarkabarkaHolgy@ohai.social If we're going to be *literal* about this, he's technically a ghost in the Odyssey anyway. I'm not sure that chromosomes persist in the underworld, although that may be because chromosomes hadn't been invented yet. In my experience, most attempts to co-opt classical material for modern fascism haven't read the Iliad either.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt Surely autodynophilia (love of power for oneself)? It must be a genuine condition as I've entirelymade it up out of Greeek words.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 4mo ago

The problem for #Labour is that it is not just #Starmer that is the problem. It is also all those that have gone along with the right-wing Labour project. To be sure, Starmer is a convenient focus, but we repeatedly heard on the doorstep that Labour collectively was being rejected. There are not many in the Cabinet that are not tainted, although some (e.g. Streeting) more than others.

One reason #Sarwar was unable to distance himself from Starmer was his own descent into right-wing tropes.

mastodon.scot

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@Geri@veganism.social @kkarhan@c.im Why not? Weimar was a liberal democracy until it wasn't: that started with trans people and queers too. Trans people's rights as established in ECHR and affirmed by ECtHR have already been disregarded in this liberal democracy, and that is by one of the parties not currently standing on a platform of withdrawing from it entirely.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

I support Crisis’ campaign to end homelessness in Scotland by 2040. Together, we can ensure nobody in Scotland suffers the trauma of homelessness ever again, and end homelessness for good.

#ScotPol #Crisis @ScottishGreens@mastodon.scot

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@MisuseCase@twit.social @yakmacker@society.kalli.st @TarkabarkaHolgy@ohai.social I spent decades duly intoning that Aeschylus, myrmidons was the first presentation of the relationship in terms of love, which may be true as far as it goes, but Achilles' reaction to Patroclus' death in the Iliad is *totally *proportionate , right?Even Zeus thinks heas lost it. (Also, the Iliad is famously reticent or allusive about a lot of mythological staples, and Aeschylus was known for drawing on Homer, so there s that too.)

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@X31Andy @ChrisMayLA6 That's a pretty low bar! But I don't see many apologies, and fewer sincere ones. The habit of uttering aform of words and then expecting to carry on regardless, or at best resigning for a period until being brought back, is a real problem in our polity.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@theferret@mastodon.scot I note with amusement that the Scottish Greens' lack of big money donations is framed as a fundraising failure rather than an ethical stance. This seems ... at odds with the thrust of the article.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@celesteh I'll see your NGOs and raise you political parties of all shades. See also WhatsApp and Slack, of course.. And not so simple either, if you can't see what you're doing.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@kdedude@kde.social Thanks: this was very helpful and pointed me in a good direction.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@HG I was presented with Navigator at work, freaked and fled back to Linux with Orca. Broadly, I am in favour of sticking to the platform that is known/familiar, rather than learning a new platform and new way of working at the same time. No, I am not advocating Linux/Orca for your gran, but it's OK once set up and learned. Be prepared for frustration: devs and Execs should be blindfolded and made to try to use their sites and apps until they cry.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@geomannie Oh dear. Good to see #Labour as confused as ever. Sadiq Khan might be invited to comment, given that this was precisely the #Tory attack line on him in the last election. Clue for Anas and co: the poorest and most vulnerable do not have access to a car. #UKPol #ScotPol

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@LisaDiFalco1 @christineburns more likely so that they can make a transphobic pitch to voters, as in Scotland.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@eco-g@stroud.social Last time I looked, he wasn't even living here. Why are his anxieties interesting, anyway? Yes, the #BBC lacks integrity and credibility on a number of issues, which is a fair point, but one of them might be thought to be its addiction to royalty.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@skua @HG Depends on the type of sight loss though: with loss of fields and difficulty in tracking, I hated large screens.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 3mo ago

Replying to

@GetCarter@mastodonapp.uk Wasn't Lozza's inept outfit called Reclaim? A possible merger there with Binface, although the implications of a circular economy would no doubt be triggering for the one-time thespian in question. Hm, perhaps it is more suggestive of baggage than upcycling anyway.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@Kroc Happy memories indeed, but much more socially useful would be to contribute to the accessibility of your project of choice, if you have spare capacity.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@tompearce49@mastodon.scot I thought that was what you meant! (But I sometimes get the whole anti-party-politics line, so wanted to put down a marker.)

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@tompearce49@mastodon.scot In my time, I have donated everything from sheets for banners to computers to the Scottish Greens. My monthly standing order to my local branch was set up twenty years ago. I have gained ... some worn-down boots, and that's about it. Can we have some perspective please?,

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Shamefully, #Labour have not only embraced #transphobia, they have backtracked on their commitment to ending conversion practices.

I am proud to have been among the first 20 candidates to sign this pledge.

mastodon.scot

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Slumped at home after the Glasgow South Side unity march to Kenmure Street. Good to see a strong Green turnout. Absolutely shattered after a couple of weeks' solid canvassing and a trip to Londn midweek for a trans history summit.

My Fitbit, of course, remains resolutely unimpressed.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@alexglow@chaos.social Off the top of my head, I'd go for "occulta servaque". you can add a pronoun if you like, but in context I don't think you need it.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@HelenLockhart@mastodon.scot For info, Gillian is doing the next leaders debate tomorrow, and has been doing a lot of other high-profile media gigs this week. It isn't her job to single-handedly offset the misogyny of the other parties, who need to take responsibility.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@maxleibman@beige.party we're going to change the world by (checks notes) rendering it uninhabitable. (If they actually build all those imaginary datacentres, that is.)

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@JugglingWithEggs Oddly, though, this critique of Kendall itself regurgitates all the "AI" hyperbole, which doesn't help.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@LisaDiFalco1 @christineburns Bang on for #Starmer, I'd have thought.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@HI_Greens@mastodon.scot Also the demographics have changed, more with some unions (e.g. Unison) than others.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@HI_Greens@mastodon.scot That is to say that I wonder where the problem is with #Labour - the party bureaucracy or the party/media interface, or something else? It is interesting to note that the trade unions, not always bastions of inclusion, historically speaking, have been doing rather better lately.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@HI_Greens@mastodon.scot SLab did have Kezia Dugdale, briefly. IIRC she was targeted with misogyny and homophobia. Of course, the Tories have also gone backwards since Annabel Goldie and Ruth Davidson. Obviously, the latter belongs to a period when they were briefly trying not to appear as the nasty party (tm).

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@kittylyst I once had a cold caller trying to sell us a conservatory, despite being on the first floor, as was clear from our address. Mind you, that was before LLMs and I'm glad to hear that standards are being maintained.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@thecommongreen A bit late to the party, and it is a pity that we have not seen more concrete action, e.g. over Prestwick.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@ZaneSelvans@social.coop It's an ideological thing: renewables are irredeemably "woke" (viz they work) and therefore any state relying on them has necessarily weakened its precious bodily fluids and is thus less of a power/force/threat/whatever. They'll come crawling for American oil, just you watch. /s

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@HelenLockhart@mastodon.scot No, sorry, threading.... it was more in response to the comments in response to your post I agree it is not a good look, but our co-leadership model imposes some constraints, or Gillian would have to go to absolutely everything, which isn't really fair on her.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@queekusme@mastodon.scot Not AFAIK. FWIW there are limits to what it can be used for, But some parties are not noted for their adherence to electoral law. It is just name, address and (where relevant) date of maturation. But it also includes the flag about whether you want to be kept off the public register, and parties could choose to interpret that as "no contact", but that is not really its function. The unadressed Freepost election communications do not rely on the register, and there is no escape.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@queekusme@mastodon.scot Interestingly, there is no comparable access to phone or email through official channels, and so phone canvassing ought to respect TPS. I am more familiar with the register side of things. It would have to be a global no-addressed-mail flag, and I can't imagine any of the parties being keen on that. I've not had the misfortune yet, but I understand that the worst is coming in an unaddressed Freepost from another party who don't normally do addressed mailings.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@thecommongreen Somehow Swinney has never seemed much of a party animal. 100% on deeds over words. I can't really see him doing a Tatchell-on-Mugabe sort of attempted citizen's arrest though, sadly.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@renzelen@mastodon.sdf.org The (other) #Tories too, who haven't gone away.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@iamdavidobrien Well, we left the charred remains in the litter tray overnight, but the cat, who is of a delicate disposition, resolutely refused to take a dump until they were removed from is tray. They were only lightly sprinkled, which is a shame. #Reform #CatsOfMastodon #UKPol #ScotPol

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@the_wub @mcv @randahl For me, the notion of a capitalist #Green is an oxymoron, but then again something similar might have been said by a#Labour member, once upon a time It is a vivid warning. That said, under PR, the question always arises of where and how to compromise, without abandoning core principles. We have not yet been burned by this in Scotland, although it is something we often discuss in the light of other Green parties' experiences.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@futurebird@sauropods.win But there is a danger in replacing the oligarchic/autocratic might-is-right theory with the majoritarian ("democratic" or "populist") might is right doctrine. They were having those discussions two and a half millenia ago, which is presumably one reason the far right are keen to censor ancient Greek texts.Not that they really cracked it, more a case of reflecting on their disasters so we shouldn't have to repeat them.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@gwynnion@mastodon.social WTAF. They had been showing up for GRR in Scotland. Tell me they haven't fallen too.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@HI_Greens@mastodon.scot Very true. It is not that they have had a shortage of candidates in recent leadership contests.

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Isabel Ruffell @iaruffell@mastodon.scot

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@queekusme@mastodon.scot Registered political parties have access to the full register.

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