Absolutely we should fear terrorism and seek to prevent it. But we should also fear those who use either real terrorism or bogus claims about terrorism to boost their own powers, restrict our freedoms and corrode our democracy. Both present major threats to public life.

The Government must stop listening to dodgy advice! Hear the trade unions, the care workers, the migrant support organisations - LISTEN TO YOUR BASE. The immigration plans must be scrapped. @zoejardiniere.bsky.social @unison.org.uk www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Palestine Action have WON their judicial review in the High Court! A massive victory for free speech, freedom of association and the right to protest. A massive defeat for the draconian attempts by Keir Starmer's government to curtail our fundamental rights.

As with everything else climate crisis-related, the sooner we take action to massively increase our domestic fruit & veg output, the better prepared we will be when our current fruit & veg imports decline away to nothing. It's not if, but when. www.thegrocer.co.uk/news/floods-...

Still going strong, thanks to all the damp weather: Downy Conecap, Conocybe pubescens. On weathered horse dung in a dung & straw pile on the allotment. #Fungi #FungiFriends

Latest NNNS Transactions arrived today. Fabulous article on urban aphids. It's amazing the number of species @norwichbirder.bsky.social finds on his way to and from work. If only we took the time to stop and stare, there are amazing invertebrates to see just about anywhere.

Absolutely brilliant take-down by @fionaharvey.bsky.social of ludicrous myths & misinformation spouting from Tony Blair’s think tank. Why on earth does he think it’s sensible to make our energy more costly & less secure?

Our public services aren’t for a secretive profit-hungry US tech firm. Sign the petition to tell the Government to scrap all contracts with secretive US tech firm Palantir. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...

And in #HouseofLords @greenjennyjones.bsky.social led drive to try to stop the proscription hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2025-0...

British Transport Police have launched their trial of live facial recognition despite the ongoing public consultation. Police use of facial recognition is expanding. We need urgent safeguards put in place now more than ever. 🚨 Today is our last chance to have our say. Don't miss your chance 👇

The Palestinian Genocide. It has a name. The UN Commission found Israel guilty of four out of five acts specified in Article 2 of the 1948 Genocide Convention against Palestinians

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

Demand Brazil’s President Lula Protect the Amazon’s Rivers amazonwatch.org/take-action/...

Just going to leave this here

Children’s vocabulary shrinking as reading loses out to screen time, says Susie Dent Exclusive: Countdown lexicographer urges families to read, talk and play word games to help language development www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

First Past the Post can no longer deliver real mandates - only chaos. 60% of Brits want it scrapped. Yet the Representation of the People Bill won’t even touch our voting system, which leaves millions unrepresented. Tell Keir Starmer to change this. actionnetwork.org/petitions/th...

“Are you firmly in favour of rejoining the European Union?" - Robert Peston “Firmly very much in favour. Brexit has been a disaster under any criteria, under any measure" - Zack Polanski

"What is turning the guy elected just 19 months ago into an ex-prime minister is the slow realisation among ministers, colleagues and voters of one essential truth about the man: there is less to him than meets the eye." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ecosystem of anti‑EU nationalism, dark‑money, data‑driven voter manipulation Files show Brexit was the outcome & instrument of a transnational network of oligarchs, data‑operation firms & authoritarian‑leaning actors. All stood to profit from destabilisation, low regulation, weak democratic checks

Last night, I got properly "doored" for the first time. A car in the road to my right paused, and the rear left passenger threw open his door without looking, right into my path. I ended up on the floor, badly winded but ok. If you don't know what the "Dutch reach" is, NOW is the time to learn.

Spoiler: Even the short-term ephemeral productivity gains turn out to just be a) people taking on tasks they have no business doing (like managers coding), b) people working longer hours because they're having fun dicking around and c) people trying to do 800 tasks at once.

Three cup fungi from Booton Common, Norfolk. Snowy Disco, Lachnum virgineum Common Grey Disco, Mollisia cinerea Spring Hazelcup, Encoelia furfuracea. #Fungi #FungiFriends

Now *that's* how you label a specimen :-)

"Mandelson’s grovelling to the sinister rich is disgraceful, disgusting, deceitful, a crushing of women’s rights and of democracy. But it is not a deviation from the system. It is a manifestation of it."

US-supplied internationally prohibited thermal & thermobaric munitions burning at 3,500C have left no trace of nearly 3,000 Palestinians, @aljazeera.com reveals. “We found nothing of Saad. Not even a body to bury. That was the hardest part,” says one mother. www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

The UK’s largest planned data centre—a project by US firm QTS—is understating its true water consumption by a factor of 50, says new analysis by @watershed-i.bsky.social & @aiarmsracebook.bsky.social @digiconomist.bsky.social No mistake; AI is a heavy, polluting industry. shorturl.at/KXQxJ

As someone said only yesterday. It's that time of year. Lo and behold Wheatfen thought so too! Alder Goblet (Ciboria caucus) on Alder. Lamb's tails and female flowers on Hazel (Corylus avellana) @norfolknats.bsky.social

Here’s a weeknight quick turnaround 🎶parody on the UK fallout linked to #EpsteinFiles #PeterMandelson's friendship with him, and the bigger implications ... we chose song #mrsrobinson from #thegraduate about vice/virtue! youtu.be/h870VJsLk_c Link to forthcoming album at end: orcd.co/hollowchapters

Octopuses 🐙 have been wandering in the oceans for 296 million years. They have three hearts and blue blood and are amazing #MondayMorning

Great chance to post my all-time favorite headline

A farm #pond we restored in 2014 showing multiple valuable habitats. Open water with submerged plants, a thick bed of Typha, lightly vegetated shallow shelving edge, bramble patch, woodland fringe, mini ancient woodland meadow (promontary on R) with early purple orchid. All this in a tiny footprint

A plod round a very wet & muddy Booton Common on Sunday revealed very few invertebrates but these fabulous mites really brightened up the day. Linopenthaleus irki running around on the underside of a mossy log in the woods. It's thanks to a post by @joaniemcnaughton.bsky.social I know what they are!

Reality Check by Dave Whamond | GoComics

Lichenomphalia umbellifera on an algae-covered stick. This species of mushroom is a basidiolichen lichen. Fungal hyphae integrate with algal cells, using the food produced by the algae through photosynthesis. Newfoundland. #lichen #fungi #fungifriends #mushroom #algae Largest shroom ~ 4cm high.

A crust fungus, Peniophora lycii, on a Honeysuckle stem. Booton Common, Norfolk. #Fungi #FungiFriends

Scarlet Elfcups, Sarcoscypha austriaca. Booton Common, Norfolk. Microscopy is needed to tell these apart from Ruby Elfcup, Sarcoscypha coccinea. #Fungi #FungiFriends

Hairy Oysterlings, Resupinatus trichotis. Booton Common, Norfolk. #Fungi #FungiFriends

Crocuses. In the back garden today.

#Antique Watches, Cameras, and Medical Equipment Morph Into Meticulous #Steampunk #Spiders by Peter Szucsy #art More information and photos of his amazing art are found here: www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/11/pete...

I just wrote a @theactionnetwork.bsky.social letter: Demand better transport in new development! Write one here: actionnetwork.org/letters/dema...

John Clare wrote (200 years ago) 'when profit gets his clutches in, there's nothing he will spare'. And still it is true.

A government enthralled to men and corporations drunk on power is the rot at the centre of the Mandelson scandal. Of all seven of the Nolan principles, openness can help build back the most trust. Every MP, like me, should release logs of all lobbying meetings.

‘War criminal not welcome’: Australians rally against Israeli president https://aje.news/6t9mks

Dewdrop Inkcaps, Coprinellus heptemerus. Delightful little fungi on old horse dung, Booton Common, Norfolk. #Fungi #FungiFriends

Hazel Porecrust, Dichomitus campestris. On a fallen oak branch at Booton Common, Norfolk. www.first-nature.com/fungi/dichom... #Fungi #FungiFriends

Spurge Laurel, Daphne laureola. A single plant in woodland at Booton Common, Norfolk. A small, bushy evergreen shrub with glossy dark green leaves & scented greenish-yellow flowers in late winter. Flowers are followed by black berries toxic to humans but eaten by birds. bsbi.org/taxa/2cd4p9h...

It's that time of year again. Alder Goblets, Ciboria caucus, on old male Alder catkins. www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/2018/02/19/a... #Fungi #FungiFriends