This letter rather spins the Ombudsman's finding that DWP should reasonably have decided to send a letter to affected women *18 months* before it did so. That is the extent of the 'injustice' found - 18 months, where the large majority of women were already aware.

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.

@timdowling.bsky.social thank you for sharing the tortoise early rising story. Toni woke this week - one month early from her hibernation spot under the stairs. Now back asleep under a dog bed. PS Much loved little thing. Now has official @floperry.bsky.social portrait alongside dogs.

Wow. Live extortion

It's happening Jim.

In his rambling history lesson, he has omitted the fact that the US is the only country ever to have invoked Article 5 of NATO, following September 11th attacks. NATO stepped up.

Saddle up Canada - we just expanded our territory share.google/s0GFt2hV3qgH...

not saying Trump isn't entirely with-it but he has just claimed that the current row is over control of "Iceland"

This speech is the equivalent of a UK PM going on stage chanting “two world wars and one World Cup” no?

He just called it "Iceland". We've lost track of which Atlantic island we're extorting Europe for.

Slow handclap time

Bear in mind that multiple NATO allies of the US – including Denmark! – have troops that fought and died in Afghanistan and Iraq in the war on terror, after 9/11. Trump repeatedly saying America “never got anything in return” from NATO goes down like cold sick in these nations.

NOTHING will prepare you for this 45-second story arc. From "I'm just doing this because I love the flag, it's totally grassroots, and I'm not part of anything political"... to who actually gave him the flags the night before. Anyone who believes it is an innocent movement needs to see this.

Reform UK is proposing a "Britannia card" that would let wealthy foreigners pay a £250k fee to move to the UK, and live here exempt from all tax on their foreign assets What they don't say: it would cost the UK £34bn Report here, and thread below: buff.ly/gpe2Dpf

Current mood.

Uber across the Longfellow. Boston nights are the best.

I recently learned that one reason US English (written) differs from British English is that at some point we underwent a period of simplification so written words more closely match how they sound based on the English alphabet

Noah Webster launched spelling reform in 1789. He ditched almost all British spellings w/ words containing "ce," like defence, offence & pretence. Americans spell them w/ "se." He also jettisoned silent double L's in past tense of traveled & canceled. He also dropped the "u" from humour & colour 👇

Absolutely barnstorming interview from John Major with Amol Rajan. The only Conservative I nearly voted for. What little nobodies we have for politicians these days in comparison.

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #3,063,921!

A quiet Saturday night with Richard Scarry. I spent hours looking at his books with their intricate little illustrations.

This is where admit to my followers that Richard Scarry was deeply embedded in my psyche and have a worryingly large cache of images from the books.

In 1994 the Pet Shop Boys were invited to perform 'Go West' at the Brit Awards. They agreed and brought with them 3 separate choirs of miners. Some of those miners had marched with the gay and lesbian members of LGSM in the 1980s. It is one of the great, near-lost music moments vimeo.com/293437684

So an owl got stuck in a soccer net in my county and the animal control folks helped him out, and the photos are ✨majestic✨ (via Jefferson County Animal Control) 🦉

You can learn a lot about enjoying the simple things in life from a dog.

Voxpop on #newsnight from pensioner viewer with a truly terrifying backdrop

@jaheale.bsky.social praise the Lord you have finally turned up. Barbara unmasked has been waiting !