2020 was a big year for me as a writer: I had four new books come out! It was also a weird year for me as a writer: I couldn't tour with any of them. It was a big, weird year for me as a writer.

1/
But I have a secret weapon: @darkdel, a great specialist indie bookstore just a few minutes' walk from my front door, where they are only too glad to get orders for signed copies of my books - I drop by and personalize 'em and they ship 'em out.

darkdel.com/store/c3/BOOKS…

2/
They got a shipment of 25 copies of the new paperback edition of HOW TO DESTROY SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM in last week and they sold like crazy; yesterday I dropped by to sign the last in-stock copies (don't worry, more are on the way).

3/
Sue, one of the owners, said, "By the way, we can't ship to the UK anymore. Since Brexit there's a new requirement that we register to collect VAT and file quarterly paperwork with the British authorities. It's just not worth it to us, sorry."

4/
I asked Sue for more details, and yup, there it is:

Consignments valued at £135 or less: The seller must charge and account for VAT at the point of sale

Which involves determining the VAT category, registering for VAT, and filing a return.

gov.uk/guidance/vat-a…

5/
That is to say, to ship this $14 paperback, they need to do something like £100 worth of paperwork.

Brexit was supposed to be a way to "take Britain back" from the burdens of European paperwork.

To my British readers, I'm heartily sorry about this, but I can't blame Sue.

6/
She's running a small business. After the crisis is over and I can come home to London to see my family, I'll be sure to sign all the bookstore stock I can get my hands on and I'll let you know where to order it from - but until then, I'm afraid the border is closed.

eof/
ETA - If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog: pluralistic.net/2021/02/24/gwb…

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More from @doctorow

26 Feb
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: K-Zombies; Privacy is not property; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2021/02/26/mea…

#Pluralistic

1/ Image
This is the last Pluralistic installment until mar 15; I'm taking a stay-at-home vacation/email sabbatical. I won't be reading messages from close of business on Friday, Feb 26 until 9AM Pac on Mar 15. Emails/DMs, etc that come in between now and then will be deleted unread.

2/
K-Zombies: Zombies conquer Korea.



3/ Image
Read 20 tweets
26 Feb
When all you have is market orthodoxy, everything looks like a market failure. Take privacy: giant, rapacious corporations have instrumented the digital and physical worlds to spy on us all the time, so some people think they should pay us for our data.

1/ Image
There's a pretty rich theoretical history explaining why this "data dividend" is a stupid idea. First of all, private information isn't very property-like. And not just because it shares all the problems of digital works (infinitely, instantaneously copyable at zero cost).

2/
Private information makes for bad "property" because it is "owned" by multiple, overlapping parties who generally disagree about when and who to share it with. When you and I have a conversation, we both own the fact that the conversation took place.

3/
Read 18 tweets
26 Feb
When you and your friends put your fingers on the ouija board planchette and it starts moving around, there's a chance your friends are just yanking your chain - but just as possible is that your friends are experiencing the ideomotor response.

1/ Image
That's when your unconscious mind directs your muscles without your conscious knowledge. The movement of the planchette doesn't tell you what's going on in the spirit world, but it does tell you something about the internal weather of your friend's psyche, fears and hopes.

2/
Our narratives are social-scale planchettes, directed by mass ideomotor response. When a fake news story takes hold, it reveals a true fact: namely, the shared, internal models of how the world really works.

Fake news is an oracle, in other words.

locusmag.com/2019/07/cory-d…

3/
Read 29 tweets
26 Feb
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The Muppet Show (1976), “Christopher Reeve” gameraboy1.tumblr.com/post/644182041…
The Muppet Show (1976), “Christopher Reeve” gameraboy1.tumblr.com/post/644182041…
Read 5 tweets
25 Feb
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: Against hygiene theater; Saving the planet is illegal; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2021/02/25/rin…

#Pluralistic

1/ Image
Against hygiene theater: Wired: Ventilation. Tired: Handwashing. Fired: Sterilization.



2/ Image
Saving the planet is illegal: Time to torch the Energy Charter Treaty.



3/ Image
Read 17 tweets
25 Feb
One of the worst barriers to preserving the planet in a state suitable for human habitation is the Energy Charter Treaty, an obscure 1994 treaty with 50+ signatories that allows energy companies to sue governments over environmental protection laws.

1/ Image
The ECT has just been invoked by the German polluter @RWE_AG, which is suing the Dutch government for €1.4b over a law that bans coal plants by 2030.

euractiv.com/section/energy…

2/
All told, the EU faces AT LEAST €345b in ECT liability over its climate plans. In reality, the total could be much higher, because the ECT provides for damages equal to the value of physical plant and ALL PROJECTED FUTURE PROFITS from those plants.

investigate-europe.eu/en/2021/ect/

3/
Read 17 tweets

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