DJT: "We gotta win the mid-terms ... or they'll find a* reason to impeach me." * spoilt for choice there "We don't impeach them because they're mean and smart" What an extraordinarily weird non sequitur.

Five years ago today, Donald Trump urged his supporters to attack Congress and the Capitol over a proven lie. More than 140 police officers were injured. Trump then pardoned the attackers. He betrayed his oath and his country, and we won't ever forget it.

Many parts of Europe will experience steep decline, even with migration. All countries experience decline if migration is left out of the equation.

I don’t hate cars. Like most North American males I was raised to think cars are cool, and as a design nerd, few objects are more eye-catching. I hate surrendering our streets, our cities and our lives to them. Car dependence isn’t freedom. Great cartoon by @robcowan.bsky.social #CarDependency

It's vitally important that there's a strong response to an illegal show of military might from remaining democratic states. The US regime is inconsistent in deciding on foes & actions. It's at least partially about unpredictability, creating chaos & fear. stoptrump.org.uk/sign-venezue...

Alternatives to the Mercator projection of the world. www.openculture.com/2024/08/buck... (Maybe DJT doesn't realise that Greenland isn't anywhere near as big as it appears to be on the commonest world map?)

Jeffrey Sachs telling it how it is: the implications of this latest chapter in a long story of USA interference in other states.

On the chilly walk home from a cosy little party in Chapel Allerton. #FullMoon #WolfMoon

Great graphic, though at first glance I mistook the nuclear symbol for 🎃, but rapidly realised that it was implausible that fully 12% of electricity should come from this unpromising seasonal bio-source.

While on duty to hand over more copies of 'The Illustrated History of Chapel Allerton', I totted up activities as tour guide & presenter over 7 years. 525 events, including presentations (in person & by Zoom). 57% of events have been private commissions.

"... attachment, memory & the senses compose our sense of place & direct our action within it. My practice recognises that the image is never just light on a sensor; it is a crystallisation of movement, pause, & attention in the landscape; the concretion of a lived moment in Ardnamurchan."

At a time when billionaires and oligarchs own the majority of our press, when local journalism is in decline, and social media is rife with misinformation and abuse, there has never been a greater need for citizen journalism Who funds us? No one...except you. Become a friends of Bylines supporter:

'The Illustrated History of Chapel Allerton' on the ground Walking tour 14:00-16:00 Sunday 18 January relating to a new book by local historian Steve Burt. I'm editor + author of Ch.8 & supplied loads of photos. Book here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-illust... (I'll be offering other dates later.)

Good explainer. Doesn’t broaden the frame to include the hugely damaging, illogical stance on the environment (drill for fossil fuels; to hell with environmental protection laws & action) that tends to go with pro-natalist, ‘women should all be homemakers’ rhetoric.

🎯

A really interesting conversation. @katewagner.wehwalt.net has more than a bird's eye view of the desecration of the White House. She's deeply knowledgeable & reflective about trends in architecture & the politics involved. The ballroom phenomenon is emblematic of wider forces.

R4 The World This Weekend coverage of the fate of town centres seemed not to consider re-populating central streets. Fringe/redundant retail properties + space above shops can be made into apartments, esp where close to rail/bus station. Then there's extra demand on the spot.

How effective is protesting? According to historians and political scientists: very www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Bon retour au Canada, Monsieur le Président Zelenskyy. Aujourd'hui, à Halifax, nous avons annoncé des nouvelles mesures pour aider l'Ukraine à mettre fin à la guerre d'agression russe, à se relever et à rebâtir. Lorsque la paix viendra, le Canada sera là pour l’Ukraine. Slava Ukraini. 🇨🇦🇺🇦

Breathtakingly moving images & musings on the theme of 'return'. "... a promise of repetition with difference, the looping path that is never quite the same twice".* There are parallels in my very different story as an urban tour guide, steeped in a place.

A relative gave me some special cheeses. One of them is *so* pungent. I tried shutting it in an unheated room, on a cool pack, but the pong still seeped through. So it went into a picnic box outside the back door. This evening I sampled a small portion. 😋 But the remainder has been banished again.

And still on memorable Christmas moments, congratulations to the staff of the embassies of France, Germany and the UK for this "Xmas Flashmob" in the Kyiv metro. Of course, there was only one choice of song - Shchedryk! Merci, Danke, Thanks, Dyakuyu #SlavaUkraïni Enjoy.

A delight to hand our new book 'The Illustrated History of Chapel Allerton' to 126 advance buyers who came to my kitchen on Monday and Tuesday to pick up their order. Here with ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ designer Emma Boulter & author Steve Burt. Such amazing teamwork.

Have just nipped into the beautiful Leeds Central Library to collect my Chapel Allerton history book, written by the very affable Steven Burt and edited by @leedstours.bsky.social . It's a hefty tome @leedscivictrust.bsky.social #chapelallerton #leeds #localhistory #publiclibraries

leedscitylinks.commonplace.is/en-GB/propos... Leeds city centre additional #cycle route improvements 2026: green Existing cycle lanes: blue Ambitions: pink Beige box is pedestrian zone. Some see inconvenience; others see various longer-term gains. Map of wider area: www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/v...

Do read about how @ledbydonkeys.org used ingenuity, daring, teamwork, luck and a cereal packet to pull off this daring, high-impact stunt. Elements of Ealing Comedy but dead-serious purpose of shedding merciless light (32,000 lumens-worth) on the horror of Trump & Epstein.

Reflecting that, as a geographer through & through, hard on the heels of relaying news about a book covering 4.25 sq miles of the Leeds suburb where I live, I was straight on with catching up on understanding the wider world within which this teensy weensy patch is nested.

Defining 2025: Chris Lockwood, Europe Editor, The Economist, was listening to the car radio. "I felt physically quite ill. It was frankly shocking to hear a man as heroic as Zelenskyy being upbraided in that fashion. An incredibly bleak & upsetting moment". www.economist.com/insider/the-...

Even if it costs a ridiculous amount to see off this absurd case, I'm not alone in considering that to be a justifiable use of funds, whereas capitulating & settling for a preposterous sum is not. So please sign the letter and share: stoptrump.org.uk/sign-bbc-let...

Here it is - in the nick of time to fulfil our claim that it would be 'The north Leeds Christmas Gift of 2025'. First delivery this morning and the rest to follow on Monday.

Ten days until Christmas, 'Made in Manchester' is still number eight English history bestseller at Waterstones.

Thanks, Sanneru, for bringing info back & forth across the ocean. That's needed. Repeated lies get ppl to vote for con artists, psychopaths etc. Most U.S. media are Right Wing. Also some churches, "nonpolitical" podcasts, sports announcing--full of RWng disinfo. upine.medium.com/the-vast-rea...

I thought Sheila Hancock (on R4 Broadcasting House) said she can't use public transport because of stares. But she meant stairs. Funny old language.

On my way to a friend’s Christmas party, using part of the ginnel system that cuts diagonally from Woodhouse Ridge to The Moor. An old routeway preserved as Victorian development spread to Headingley.

I remember this as though it was yesterday. I was sat on a cemetery wall in Armley approx 2.5 miles away and the whole sky was lit a bright orange. It was huge. Fifty years ago. 😬

OTD 1975 fire destroyed 2/3 Leeds Kirkgate Market. The back of the market was rebuilt – 1976 Hall. Photos & press cuttings are on display till end of December in the grand 1904 Hall, which wasn’t damaged in the fire. news.leeds.gov.uk/news/remembe....

Remarkably similar to the pub we last entered in early 2020. A delight that beer is once more being served in this 160-year-old establishment. #TheVic 👑🍻♥️

🚨🚨This is worse than we could have imagined: Full version of #Trump's national #securitystrategy reportedly calls for “pulling Poland away from #EU”. 🧵 notesfrompoland.com/2025/12/10/f...

Labour backbencher Matt Western secured an urgent question in Parliament on Trump’s new national security strategy - a thinly veiled threat to Europe's democracy Hardly anyone turned up Funny how the "Take Back Control" lot don't show their face when Trump interferes

Magnificent Aurora over Loften, Norway ~ time lapse

"AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector and tech monopolists run amok. We will be excavating it for a generation or more." This piece on AI by Cory Doctorow is spectactular. pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...

A sight rarely seen: The Shambles, York without people. Taken through protective plastic bag as I scurried round York ahead of leading a tour for retired Arup engineers - checking route, as Ouse & Foss mean some paths are inaccessible. Good route inside walls, NOT in core tourist streets like this.

“We can’t all be expected to bike.” Fair. But that’s not the point. “Not everyone can or wants to bike. But some people can & do—and they deserve a safe, efficient, affordable way to move through the city. It’s about freedom of choice.” This & other useful comebacks, in @momentummag.bsky.social.

Legendary architect Frank Gehry dies aged 96 www.bbc.com/news/article... - his Louis Vuitton building is stunning

On @therestpolitics.bsky.social, leader of @greenparty.org.uk @zackpolanski.bsky.social didn't seem to have economic advisors. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DC2... He should learn from @annpettifor.bsky.social, @kateraworth.bsky.social, @timjackson.org.uk Do you have more suggestions of tutors for him?

Good news! Earlier this year I shared reports that the land around the Cerne Abbas Giant was up for sale I’m delighted that, after lots of conversations, the land has now been bought by the National Trust (who already own the Giant): www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... bsky.app/profile/guys...

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Phoebe Darling, a computer science student from @unibirmingham.bsky.social spent 6 weeks with NCAS sharing her skills and gaining experience. Find out how internships can make a difference! ncas.ac.uk/internships-...

Trickle Down Is A Scam.....