Oh good grief. As well as espousing the kind of policies that got Kier Starmer so much grief, everyone hates him already, so what good would that do?

So the book is out there! Two readings down, one more at the fabulous St Mungo's Mirrorball, Waterstones in Argyle Street, 7pm on Thursday. If you can't be there, you can buy a copy from www.redsquirrelpress.com, or from burnedthumb.bigcartel.com

Independence MSP's 1999 - 36 2003 - 34 2007 - 49 2011 - 71 2016 - 69 2021 - 72 2026 - 73 SNP has won 5 Holyrood elections in a row, Labour had their worst ever election & Tories fell to 4th. Independence MSP's have been the majority since 2011. If that's not a mandate what is?

A phenomenon I am beginning to notice is recently retired people becoming increasingly radical (left-wing, pro-indy) and political, presumably because there aren't any professional responsibilities to be neutral. I think the trope of racist granny might need a rethink.

If you have a spare afternoon in Cambuslang, this is going to happen tomorrow! www.elizabethrimmer.com/news

it’s okay to feel bad about bad things happening. to feel grief over loss, rage over injustice. it’s okay to weep and scream. it seems like poems are the last place where it’s okay to sit with a difficult set of tangled emotions. and leave it at that. at being a living thing.

remember the red white and blue brexit? Who is writing these speeches?

New book on its first outing!

The challenges facing children's education amidst an active warzone | Rasha Abou Jalal

Reminder that polling cards are not sent or needed any more so if you haven’t done a postal vote you just have to attend your local polling station to vote You also don’t need photo ID in Scottish elections

Latest newsletter with an incentive to subscribe, if you like this sort of thing: buttondown.com/Burnedthumb/...

I worked with teenagers who were sacked from shelf-stacking jobs for coming in on a Saturday morning a bit pissed from the night before. One who wasn't spotted in time, fumbled a tray of dog food cans she was putting on a high shelf & ended up needing surgery on her face. Imagine the compo.

So the important bit is NOT what's in the headline... "I have seen a growing number of cases that you are referring to and also raised the issue with the Home Office," Phillips told the committee. "However, I have seen thousands more of those cases be completely and utterly legitimate."

An expert opinion that the scam reported by the BBC wouldn’t work, and so was a scam on applicants not the system, seems like important context

Did u know that you don't have to provide medical evidence for claiming ADHD, Anxiey and Depression?* *Yes you fucking well already do. It's a horrific process, dehumanising and cruel. Making it harder is unconscionable.

Thomas Merton once argued that if you created a benefit system in a society where employers could refuse to employ certain people, you’d have an underclass which would never be allowed to come off benefits, and honestly, he wasn’t wrong. While employers refuse to employ disabled people

A piece of nonsense on so many levels. Most people with these conditions are working. None of them qualify for benefits unless they create serious disability. Very few of them occur in isolation, and they often give rise to multiple comorbities.

Just a word about the artist who drew the owl ,Hugh Bryden. It is one of the designs used in a book charm bracelet for which I wrote the charms - Charms for the Healing of Grief.

We know what happens to a people when they are removed from their land. But what happens to their culture? It cannot be maintained without practice, without relationship. It cannot exist separate to those who materialise it, without the soil and the flesh. www.planetcritical.com/oil-and-vine...

Comrades of Dark Night is almost here, thanks to Red Squirrel Press, and it will have its first public reading on Thursday 7th May, in St Bride's church hall, Greenlees Road, Cambuslang, at 2.30 pm. We will have tea and cake, poetry from Anne Connolly and music. It would be lovely to see you there!

The menu ( in Welsh ) of Caffi Spam at Colwyn Bay for the unveiling of the Terry Jones statue this afternoon.

At least 20 people were targeted during protests in Dundee — 18 of them women. Some say the abuse included threats, stalking and coordinated harassment http://www.theferret.scot/women-abused-far-right-scotland/

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... BBC News going full Reform. This is the cover picture for the story of the one shop in the clip. The dealers they were directed to were white but they are not on the front page.

I’ve been hearing so much anger and disappointment from frontline workers about the BBC investigation into fraudulent asylum claims. One of the most damning responses has come from one of the experts they interviewed, solicitor Ana Gonzalez. It’s really worth reading her response in full:

A week today! Join us for the online launch of @beewyld.bsky.social's new book #TheApothecaryByTheSea - a year in an Orkney Garden - pictured here during a glorious #Grasmere #GoldenHour. Vik will be interviewed by our own co-captain @pollyrowena.bsky.social - April 28th, 7.30pm BST. 
Link in bio.

Blogpost - dark nights, new book, some readings burnedthumb.com

Every year, I reread the LotR trilogy. This last year's reread amped me up and I started keying Middle-earth 12 miles at a time Concurrently, without meaning to, I wrote a game to run the hexcrawl I call it Lore - a Lord of the Rings Adventure Game retroclone Here's what I think is fun about it🧵

Famously Sauron's eye never missed any intruders upon his land

torn between "we need to soften IP law to stop the calcification of the culture" and "we need to give the Tolkien estate the right to extrajudicially execute these clowns at will"

The BBC undercover investigation into false immigration claims is deeply irresponsible journalism. It does not highlight that exploitation by unregulated advisors occurs because legal aid was cut and the system is insane to navigate.

The BBC has come under heavy fire after publishing a 'misleading' report on asylum seekers which experts allege will put vulnerable people 'at more risk of far-right attacks'

BREAKING - Zarah Sultana MP exercises Parliamentary Privilege to expose the unjust nature of the Filton 24 re-trial. UK press has been court ordered not to publish these details. “If convicted, they and 18 others will be sentenced as terrorists, but the jury will not be told that”

There is no aspect of this report that doesn't make my blood boil, and no possible interpretation of the methods and motives of the BBC that does them any credit.

Reform getting trashed today 😂 Lady confronts Lee Anderson: “The flags went up before the potholes were sorted. You couldn’t tell the truth if your life depended on it. So get your silly little racist flags and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine. It’s pathetic. You’re pathetic.” #UKPolitics

So 'weathercock' Sarwar is desperately insisting that Scotland is a 'mess' under the SNP. More of this 'mess' please. #Scotland #SNP1SGP2

"Here is Calmac CEO letter to staff, exposing media and politicians on their deception on ferries. Calmac have given the media this information but media choose not to report it."

Refugee charity cleared by regulator after MP-backed ‘misinformation campaign’ falsely alleging it encouraged children to send Valentine’s Day cards to asylum seekers These false allegations made national news. This should be reported just as widely www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/refugee...

Does anyone hear speak fluent Gaeilge? I need a quick translation for a small indie project, just two lines of dialog, and my usual source is not available... I would appreciate it!

Today is a dark day for anyone who believes in sanctuary in the UK. People who've fled war and torture should be able to rebuild their lives in peace and security - not live under a constant threat of removal. We must not stop fighting these appalling anti-refugee laws.

Thirteen years ago today, my nephew went into a pub and ordered a pint of milk to celebrate the death of Margaret milk-snatcher Thatcher. So proud of that one!

If you want something concrete to do while so much is terrifyingly out of our control, here's one option: donate to a mutual aid effort supporting people displaced by Israel's genocidal war on Lebanon.

We spent a wonderful afternoon planting a new #communityorchard at the Calder Street Oasis in Govanhill, Glasgow with children from nearby Holy Cross Primary School and Hollybrook Academy. It's great to see communities come together like this to make a difference 🍏 📷️ Image 2: L Vroomen

Did you know that Red Squirrel Press is twenty years old today? In that time it has published over three hundred books - poetry, short fiction and now memoir/nature writing, plus the short story magazine Postbox. Including five of my poetry collections, just saying. #tagyourselvessquirrels

This is just awful.

We're delighted to reveal the cover for A Year in Water by Beth McDonough. Stunningly illustrated throughout, A Year in Water combines quietly humorous and observant prose, inspirational advice, lucid poetry, and waterside recipes. Discover more here: 🏊 www.northhousepress.co.uk/books #BookSky

This is absurd. Either we needed those training posts or we didn’t. You don’t train specialists as a special treat to reward junior doctors for not striking.

“There’ll be no spying for the Chinese, there’ll be no bevvying, and there’ll be no shaggin’ Captains of Nuclear WMD submarines” 🇬🇧 The Labour Scandals are certainly entertaining 🤣 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺😎

D'you know what? I think Farage is now scared stiff he might have to form a government and do some actual work, so he's throwing all the most ridiculous policies at us, to see if he can shake us off.