Retired researcher living in Nottinghamshire, England. Hull native.
#Socialist #Politics #Environment #Cats #Gardening #Wildlife #Opera #ClassicalMusic #Refugees #HumanRights
#AlcoholFree
#WearAMask
#GreenParty
She/Her
Avatar: Me, a white woman with short, greying brown hair. Wearing a large pair of red spectacles.
Header: Climate Stripes going from blue on the left to terrifying red on the right.
"As two professors of energy studies – one British, the other Swedish – we have long puzzled over the stark contrast in how winter is experienced inside our homes in the north of England (Sheffield) and southern Sweden (Lund)."
Cold and expensive v hot, cheap and eco-friendly: the contrasting histories of home heating in the UK and Sweden
https://theconversation.com/cold-and-expensive-v-hot-cheap-and-eco-friendly-the-contrasting-histories-of-home-heating-in-the-uk-and-sweden-275417
I've often wondered how Steven Pinker's amazingly sloppy research and baseless claims* have for so long received a free pass. I wonder whether it could have something to do with a. his connections with the rich and powerful; b. his claims often aligning with what they want to hear.
*See next post.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:b7kamuwqipovlbz2l5vhe2tb/post/3mevfzvpbgk2e
Tir Natur (Nature’s Land) has bought more than 480 hectares (1,195 acres) in Ceredigion, Wales, to establish Cymru’s “flagship” rewilding project, helping the country catch up with large-scale nature recovery projects under way elsewhere in the UK.
This is a marvelous example of whimsy and craftsmanship! A rare Greek askos, made in the shape of a lobster claw. Dating back to approximately 450 BC, the vessel was used to hold perfumed oil. 🦞
📷 Antikensammlung Kassel #archaeology
🏺
Epstein was a key figure in the Oslo & Abraham Accords, which undermined Palestinian sovereignty.
And the architect of Oslo, Terje Rod-Larsen, was deeply embedded in Epstein's inner circle.
He "facilitated visas for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims & was listed for a $10m payout" from Epstein.
Rod-Larsen’s wife, Mona Juul, was also pivotal in the Oslo negotiations & has resigned as ambassador to Jordan-Iraq.
#Epstein #USPol #EUPol #palestine #CdnPoli #Racism #OsloAccords .
Major leak at Dounreay Highland nuclear site triggers hunt for mystery bunkers
https://www.thenational.scot/news/25854472.major-leak-highland-nuclear-site-triggers-hunt-mystery-bunkers/?nid=1302&block=article_block_a&u=4e56dba3ae84b19a6945cb86e7a0aee8&date=150226
@Geri "Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir
Rowing home to haven in sunny REDACTED,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine."
Afraid of a word, they are. I honestly despair.
Dahlia #Lithwick has been one of my North Stars when it comes to deciphering legal shenanigans. Today she published an article that makes me green that I didn’t write it, it’s so good.
“Those of us who cannot even begin to imagine a permission structure that allowed and encouraged passing young girls around, trading insults and articles about them (“your littlest girl was a little naughty”), can barely comprehend why it was that this class of men always took the gift and the plane trip, because access to yet more of the same somehow became the coin of the realm.
The psychological tendency to assume that others are operating within the same moral and ethical universe as yourself—means that we are all, once again, annihilated by the fact that America’s shared moral universe is a collective fiction, one that constrains one class of people and merely titillates another.”
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/02/pam-bondi-epstein-files-testimony-reveal.html
Can I also suggest Bookshop which is an association of hundreds of independent UK bookstores. If you order the book from them, you can select a bookshop, which will receive 10% of the price.
It’s the middle of LGBT History Month so a good moment to remind everyone that my book, Trans Britain — a modern history fashioned from the observations of generations of contributors — is still going strong in paperback and eBook form in its ninth year. It’s got a new publisher this year and you can buy it in online stores or from queer bookshops like QueerLit and Gays The Word. Hive makes a great ethical alternative to Amazon. https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Ms-Christine-Burns/Trans-Britain--Our-Journey-from-the-Shadows/23931110
This valentine's day, take a moment to read how they are destroying a wetland, an important site for migratory birds from Europe every winter, for $65m a year. "An exclusive investigation reveals how flower farms in Uganda’s protected wetlands are shipping millions of stems to Europe— ending up in ALDI aisles and the vases of the Dutch royal family."
Ugly Valentine: How ‘Fairtrade’ Roses Ravage Uganda’s Wetlands | Pulitzer Center
https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/ugly-valentine-how-fairtrade-roses-ravage-ugandas-wetlands
[...] Francesca Albanese’s detractors—those seeking to shield Israel from her legitimate criticism by forcing her resignation—fail to understand one fundamental truth: she will never stop exposing them. Whether she remains the UN Special Rapporteur or not, Francesca will continue to document Israel’s crimes with the same legal rigor and moral clarity. My message to them is unequivocal: removing her from her position will not silence the truth; it will only amplify it.
Attempts to discredit or remove Albanese are not just futile but counterproductive, as her work transcends institutional roles. She meticulously documents Israel’s violations of international law (findings that align with #ICJ rulings, #ICC investigations, and reports from human rights organizations.) The coordinated pushback against her is not about her credibility, but an effort to shield Israel from accountability. As Varoufakis observes, these smear campaigns expose deeper political and economic interests: arms sales, diplomatic protection, and the normalization of occupation.
So the pattern is familiar: when legal scrutiny threatens Israel’s impunity, the response is not engagement but attempts to silence those who investigate. The occupation itself (illegal under international law) undermines any claim to self-defense, yet it persists with impunity.
#InternationalLaw #PalestinianRights #AccountabilityNow #GazaGenocide
"By capitalism we do not mean markets, trade and entrepreneurship, which have been around for thousands of years before the rise of capitalism. By capitalism we mean something very odd and very specific: an economic system that boils down to a dictatorship run by the tiny minority who control capital – the big banks, the major corporations and the 1% who own the majority of investible assets." - Exactly !
In France, the left party, LFI, has recently been making the same point: the left has to expose the misleading euphemisms of 'market economies', 'free markets', 'free enterprise'', etc - which the right uses to disguise extractive big business and finance as something as nice and friendly as a local street market - and it needs to ally with small businesses - which are nothing like big business, and which are indeed just as exploited by multinational capitalism as the rest of us.
"Goodwin’s campaigners have expressed clear support for the far-right group Britain First, baselessly suggested that 60-70% of transgender people are paedophiles or posted online that Muslims are only in the UK because they wish to “conquer” it"
#GortonAndDenton #ReformUK #Racism #Fascism
Goodwin’s gang: Meet the Reform team in Gorton and Denton
https://manchestermill.co.uk/goodwins-gang-meet-the-reform-team-in-gorton-and-denton/
SEND for the bankers https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/02/14/send-for-the-bankers/ Fiscal rules look like they will be used to deny children and others with special educational needs the chances they need in life. And, yes, I am very angry about that.
"Whatever Edge was supposed to be, it became something sinister. The salon played yenta to billionaire money and alpha-male minds, and together, over decades, they all converged on a master philosophy: they were apex predators ordained by nature to exploit and subjugate others"
#Edge #Epstein #Fascism #Eugenics
The billionaires' eugenics project: how Epstein infiltrated Harvard, muzzled the humanities and preached master-race science
https://www.thenerve.news/p/epstein-billionaires-eugenics-project-harvard-academia-john-brockman
"People who stalk and bully children do not live in dark corners of the internet. They live among us. They work alongside us. They teach our children. They treat our patients. They manage teams. They sit in safeguarding meetings. They are your sister and your cousin and your mother"
#TattleLife #Suicide #Stalking #SocialMedia
A 16 year old girl was hounded until the day she died by the 'ordinary women' of Tattle Life. A ban is long overdue.
https://www.thenerve.news/p/tattle-life-suicide-princess-dickson-sophie-may-women-dr-jessica-taylor
‘The Kill Chain’
"Palantir’s CEO Alex Karp says he is “exceedingly proud” of Palantir’s involvement in what he calls “operationally crucial operations in Israel.”
Trans Americans seeking asylum in Europe are being denied by Dutch authorities - https://observer.co.uk/news/international/article/trans-people-trying-to-flee-trumps-america-find-europes-doors-are-closing
Cody Dahler explains who Jim Ratcliffe is 👏🏻😊
YouTube Short: https://youtube.com/shorts/3-eM4ilf3pE
