I’m going to learn Spanish. I don’t think it’s possible to live where I live, in this time, without participating in a world that is rich, vibrant, joyful, Indigenous, wonderful and welcoming. All of my favorite parts of living in California have been centered on what little I have experienced […]

Currently, the outrage to the visible contents of the Epstein files is so mild that I have to think the majority of people just aren’t even casually checking them. I can’t think of a phrase to describe what I’ve read even as a forensic analyst. “Cartoonishly evil” is too gentle. Horrific. Inhuman.

@hacks4pancakes we built a society that rewards and promotes psychopaths

ICE needs a military-sized budget because it is at war with the United States.

I'm learning, by hard abuse of my mentions. That here on the fediverse, really contentious topics include: - UBI - Bike helmets - Cars. Toot about those, and you will attract all sorts of absolute bellends. It's a great way of swelling your block list. At the same time, these topics can also […]

Golden eagles at Lynch canyon I have two things I want to tell you about golden eagles. First, golden eagles are BIG: https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/32851662577/in/album-72157680242165608 Also, golden eagles STRRRRRRETCH out their wings to […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A Scottish party leader calls for an embattled PM to quit but his cabinet rallies round and backbench MPs bang desks to show their support....

Talk about throwing off your center!

The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign has officially served the UK government a new legal advice that approving the Rosebank oilfield could put the UK in direct breach of international law. It identified potential breaches of the UK’s international obligations under the Geneva Conventions […]

Which EU countries could reverse their nuclear energy phaseouts? https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/02/09/which-eu-countries-could-reverse-their-nuclear-energy-phaseouts Sadly, the article fails to mention the elephant in the room, nuclear does not produce cheap electricity, but is […]

The dark side of green technology: what do electric vehicles really cost? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00385-3 A powerful book reveals the corrupt deals and human exploitation behind the global scramble for strategic metals.

Seven emerging issues for forest restoration https://relationalthinkingblog.com/2026/01/26/plain-language-summary-seven-emerging-issues-for-forest-restoration/ People often see restoring forests as a solution to the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and improving people’s lives. Governments […]

ALSO speaking of awesome people I work with, my collaborators redid the CRASH Clock calculation for several years in the past, so you can see how it has dropped to shorter and shorter values: https://outerspaceinstitute.ca/crashclock/ The CRASH Clock is the likely time to first collision if all […]

A happier story on beaver releases. If only it hadn’t taken from 2012 to get to this stage. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/09/a-beaver-blind-date-animals-given-freedom-to-repopulate-cornish-rivers

How a Countryside Study Became a Culture-War Flashpoint https://monkdebunks.substack.com/p/how-a-countryside-study-became-a Following the trail from public policy reports to inflammatory headlines.

A UK climate security report backed by the intelligence services was quietly buried – a pattern we’ve seen many times before https://theconversation.com/a-uk-climate-security-report-backed-by-the-intelligence-services-was-quietly-buried-a-pattern-weve-seen-many-times-before-274325 Last autumn, a […]

@BashStKid Arghh! Looking at this through a trans lens, I don’t think we discuss nearly enough that a lot of the anti-trans animus in the British press comes from the evidence that one of our number had the time rite to give to the Leveson enquiry. So, any history with the right-leaning press in […]

Today I learned that Number 10 has/had a Director of Communications. Who knew?!! Seriously… Who could possibly have guessed that?

It is worth specifically shouting out to @grain.org - because criticizing BEF is a genuinely rare and brave thing to do in this space. Jeff Bezos and Amazon are bullies, and they have absolutely zero qualms in taking action to silence their critics.

Is there an explanation for why 50% of these thugs have the same hideous moustache

"Mohammadi was arrested on December 12 after denouncing the suspicious death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi" #journalism https://aje.news/79a92w

"the strikes constitute extrajudicial killings... no state of armed conflict exists to justify such operations" https://aje.news/99ql68

This can very much happen here if there’s an unlucky confluence of geology and excessive rains. (Sorry, not a happy way to start the week) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/09/anger-despair-sicilian-town-crumbles-landslide-niscemi

I also got to see a beautiful and educational Māori Star Compass, and learn a few incredibly interesting tidbits about celestial navigation (and continue to try to orient myself to the southern hemisphere sky) #profsamlecturetour

"Procuring, trading, objectifying and violating women and girls is the summit of potency for those who already have everything else: money, status, respect. To subordinate another human being to your urges, to reduce her in all ways, is to be initiated into a club of super-predators who are […]

Reading scholarship on #resistance to #ai — I just want younger people to know, this is different. In my memory, theorists and practitioners didn't feel bound to organize a *resistance* to word processors or gps or email. Now, maybe we all turned technophobe all of a sudden. But maybe, just […]

I guess the Falcon 9's must really actually be grounded, because Jonathan McDowell's Starlink count hasn't gone up in the last 4 days since my last talk! (It's actually gone down slightly due to reentries). There are now "only" 9,631 Starlinks in orbit. (Sigh.)

Beautiful nerds of the fediverse. It's the #superbowl this evening, I fully expect y'all to step up and provide lots of photos of superb owls! Please do your magic. See a picture of a superb owl? Don't forget to boost it so others might see it too.

As you probably know, on last Friday – February 6th – the biggest international labor strike in history took place all over Europe, blocking aid to the #genocide in #Gaza. For example, Here's footage from Greece: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUbIRIRjIFj/ Here in […] [Original post on tooot.im]

Here goes the really intense week: Tomorrow I speak here in Napier Wednesday is in New Plymouth Thursday is Wairarapa Friday is Wellington https://www.rasnz.org.nz/rasnz-info/rasnz-lecture-trust-bht-1 #profsamlecturetour

New from Purrfect Press "Addressing the Allegations" By Pica the Cat Chapters: 1. The Haters 2. Glorious Pica 3. Opportunities for Praise 4. The Power of Napping 5. Inevitable Failure of the Haters 6. Tragedy Strikes: A late dinner 7. Songs From My Soul 8. Thoughts on "Staff" and the Burden […]

[Epstein.] An Amelia Gentleman article. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/feb/07/sex-and-snacks-but-no-seat-at-the-table-the-role-of-women-in-epsteins-sordid-mens-club

Anti-asylum groups step down https://www.theferret.scot/email/3fce8bbd-5f5d-4bec-83fa-3e3070f69a49/ Over the past year, anti-migrant protests have become a flashpoint in Scotland with far-right groups accused of hijacking them for their own political purposes, while stirring up racial hatred […]

New data shows surge in trans youth suicides following ideological] rollback of care [https://bsky.app/profile/goodlawproject.org/post/3meb32vgfak2b

"It’s not just Epstein. That’s what these files reveal. Epstein is communicating with hundreds of men in these millions of pages. Men from every country and power structure: US finance, petrodollar royalty, Russian oligarchy, Hollywood, Palo Alto, Washington, Westminster. We know that more than […]

"Advance UK’s campaign in the Gorton and Denton by-election has been seriously set back after a wave of anger, including from within its own ranks, over misogynistic tweets posted by its candidate, Nick Buckley. The posts contained abusive and degrading remarks about women, particularly young […]

Whilst I welcome a renewed focus on the Epstein files THIS should still be receiving attention. The UK government should be using its "special relationship" to stop this brutality, otherwise we are complicit in this abuse. #ice #uspol @KatyElphinstone […]

Continuing my new found hobby of heat pump geekery I’ve added the daily outside temperature to the daily battery of stats I’m collecting over the first month of operation and, having wrestled Apple’s Numbers app to the ground over twin axis graphs, I’m pleased […] [Original post on mastodon.green]

Reform UK caused a stir in Gorton and Denton today by sending a 'Dear Neighbour' campaign letter without any Reform branding in breach of electoral law. They did the exact same thing in Wales too. After that mistake you would think they would print their leaflets more Caerphilly. #ukpolitics […]

There are lots of satellites here in the southern skies too. But the stars behind the satellites are absolutely incredible! The Milky Way was absurdly bright! The Magellenic Clouds were so easy to see! WOOOOWWWWW

Just heard from colleagues that the Reflect Orbital application is open for public comments at the FCC. There's no closure date yet posted. I know DarkSky is working on instructions for how to submit a comment, and I will share widely once that's open. I know AAS is working on instructions for […]

Senegal surf school in Dakar brings girls back to class https://www.euronews.com/video/2026/02/06/senegal-surf-school-in-dakar-brings-girls-back-to-class In a Dakar fishing village, a surf academy run by Black Girls Surf swaps waves for school, helping 20 girls return to education.

Archaeologists find evidence of Hannibal’s war elephants in Spain https://www.heritagedaily.com/2026/02/archaeologists-find-evidence-of-hannibals-war-elephants-in-spain/156943 A small bone discovered in southern Spain may represent the first direct archaeological evidence of the war elephants […]

How giant ‘Blobs’ of rock have influenced Earth’s magnetic field for millions of years – new research https://theconversation.com/how-giant-blobs-of-rock-have-influenced-earths-magnetic-field-for-millions-of-years-new-research-272378

I saw someone straight out just say "I stopped using search engines because the #fediverse is far better these days" And, I have to agree. I was looking for an author website and Google just floods the page with their own useless book showcase thing, the one with the tabs that say reviews […]

Not the headline DSIT & #UKRI will have been wanting after a week's attempted message management. They must be secretly glad the Mandelson-Epstein furore is taking up most bandwidth. It's almost impressive how bad their comms have been, never mind the scale […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Straight to the actual point #greenparty #ZackPolanski #peterthiel #EpsteinFiles #Palentir

Alt text cont

I then say to the guy - in German - he should just better go and find any free place, as we are not moving here as we all have reservations too He gets rather aggressive in response, saying he will not do that, as he has reserved, and let the train manager solve it, and he is to take the seat […]

One time, I was walking around in Paris with my wife. Some old lady I don’t know opens the window above me, sees me, and says WAIT, YOU WANT CHOCOLATE?? And throws me chocolate. My wife was like, nobody ever gave me free food in my whole time living there I didn’t really want chocolate from a […]