While #DarwinDay is certainly a day to celebrate #CharlesDarwin and how he fundamentally changed humanity's understanding of all life on Earth... It’s also the perfect excuse to share this letter he wrote while being magnificently grumpy about bees 🧵

Crumbs.

A dresser inside a museum in New York City has been discovered as a secret stop on the Underground Railroad — the first of its kind discovered in Manhattan in over 100 years

It is alarming Palantir won a £240,000,000 Government contract in December without tender. They already have access to our NHS despite mine and others calls that our personal public data should remain in public ownership - not in the hands of a private company.

@mrjamesob.bsky.social @lbc.co.uk For those looking: harpers.org/archive/1941...

This FT headline has annoyed me: "Rising share of UK public in favour of tax and spending cuts" Further down, we discover that the share, after increasing, is only 19% Yes, the headline is accurate, but so too is "Despite increase, UK Public support for tax and spending cuts remains under 20%"

Excellent article that gives a good summary of what the main challenges facing us are and various alternative economic models proposed to address climate change: www.allusanewshub.com/2026/02/09/e...

This thread is well worth your time - a summary of parliamentary debate regarding whether or not a public enquiry into Russian interference and influence on UK democracy.

Back to @bengoldsborough.bsky.social: "We understand the danger - but not enough of the country does. “What we’re currently living through is not the normal state of things but something we need to defend. “This defence must be a cross-party effort, bigger than any one political win.”

Media literacy in UK remains weak, he says, leaving the public poorly equipped to recognise disinformation when it appears.

I may do a thread at some point, but fast fashion is not the same as cheap clothing. Fast fashion is necessarily cheap, but not all cheap clothing is fast fashion. Fast fashion is best understood as a specific form of production in the history of garment production. Will try to do a thread later.

Goddammit, @mrjamesob.bsky.social you made me cry at the end of the latest Full Disclosure! Anyone who enjoys an overwhelming urge to give someone a hug should listen to Mark Constantine.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... I often bemoan the need for sleep. I like being awake - there's so much to do! But last year I had an epiphany - if we didn't need so much, we wouldn't get more leisure time - we would have to work longer hours. This article just deepens my belief in that theory.

SWORN TESTIMONY!!! June 18, 2016 "I personally witnessed defendant trump telling the plaintiff that she shouldn't ever say anything if she didn't want to dissappear like the 12 year old female ⬛️⬛️⬛️ and that he was capable of having her whole family killed."

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... If they're breathing they're lying.

What a tune! Great version.

History repeating itself? UKIP under Nigel Farage controlled Thanet Council and nearly bankrupt it. Reform UK under Nigel Farage controls Worcestershire Council and it’s on the verge of bankruptcy. Never trust Reform UK. Imagine a country run by them. We'd be bankrupt with Trussite policies.

musiciansunion.org.uk/news/ireland... @timjackson.org.uk @cusp.ac.uk I assume you know about this - the sort of change championed in The Care Economy. "According to an external report from Alma Economics, for every €1 of public money invested in the pilot, society received €1.39 in return."

I find it disappointing more politicians haven’t spoken out in the UK against Trumps racist comment. It really is important to condemn such things. Or we continue to slide.

Great video. The homes are thoughtful, attractive and well designed. Khan is eloquent and considerate. Much more like this please.

"As James Evans [the Tory MS who defected to Reform this week] said quite recently, Reform is full of hypocrites who have no principles." This bit made me laugh out loud.

I would never vote for Farage as he doesn’t meet my minimum standards as a human being.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition. Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

"GDP can actually increase after disasters owing to spending on recovery, the researchers added." Entirely unfit for purpose. "That's your bloody GDP".

This is essential reading for all policy makers - and it’s exactly what many of us have been warning about for years. Our current economic model is simply incompatible with a safe & secure future. We can’t bail out the Earth like we did the banks

Decarbonising the pint 🍺 Clean heat isn’t just about homes. A brewery in Sussex shows how industry can lead - ditching gas-fired steam for high-temp heat pumps that recycle waste heat into the next brew. www.energylivenews.com/2026/01/14/s...

Thiel is a Founder of Palantir which the UK government, in their wisdom, has granted NHS contracts to, despite a whistleblower claiming the company interfered in the Brexit referendum. Christopher Wylie's claims are looking more plausible by the minute. I want Palantir out of our NHS.

👇👇👇👇

Zack Polanski, "Palantir.. £240 million contract last month" "That was lobbied by Global Counsel which is Peter Mandelson's lobbying group" "The idea that a defence company from the US has its fingerprints all over our healthcare system, alongside Peter Mandelson"

In 2018 Steve Bannon bragged to Jeffrey Epstein about his influence over European politicians including Nigel Farage and that he could “shut down any crypto legislation or anything else we want”. What is Reform’s first and only piece of draft legislation? A pro-crypto Bill.

Regulate cryptocurrency. Regulate social media.

We all knew that Badenoch was going to raise Mandelson and Epstein at #PMQs, but it was @eddavey.libdems.org.uk that hit the bullseye by asking if Epstein was a Russian agent

WHO IS BANKROLLING FARAGE!!

Pop singer Lorde will donate the $204,000 she made on merchandise sales from her sold-out Minneapolis shows last fall to two Minnesota immigrant rights groups.

Mandelson leaks UK secrets to Epstein Epstein was working for the Russians And still Keir Starmer will not instruct our security services to investigate Russian interference in pushing Brexit over the line

Starting in 2016, today the world invests far more in clean energy than in fossil fuels.

"Since prison for Epstein’s fellow abusers gets unlikelier over time, America’s deeper question is whether it can restore a culture of shame." - marvellous, marvellous column by @edwardluce.bsky.social:

A clip of me talking about how most SA in the UK is committed by white British men was posted to Facebook and a friend send me a screenshot of the comments underneath…. I don’t think it’s just X we should be worried about, folks. That’s either bots or some very, very racist, radicalised people.

Every accusation is a confession.

Music festival company goes into liquidation leaving 2026 ticket holders uncertain - Derbyshire Live share.google/YuyIKzgZnv8p... This is such a shame for everyone involved. Can only imagine how dreadful the organisers must feel.

It's rare to see how lobbyists operate. But the Epstein-Mandelson correspondence shows us what happens all the time: plutocrats and government ministers conspiring against the public interest. This is why all lobbying should be in the public domain, but despite Labour and Con promises, it's not. 🧵

Why isn't this a major news story?

An outstanding thread. If you're not following Emma already, I highly recommend you do.

Five (live) concerts you’ve seen with women lead singers Rhian Teasdale (Wet Leg) Abigail Morris (The Last Dinner Party) Evie Tarr (Preen) Alison Mosshart (The Kills) Sheryl Crow Sorry (Asha Lorenz) at gig tonight sadly had to cancel. Lime Garden (Chloe Howard) and Silver Gore (Ava Gore) on bill.

Konstantin Kisin straight up lying on #bbcqt Douglas Alexander: “When Fraser Nelson put it to you that Rishi Sunak is absolutely english… you said “he’s a brown Hindu, how is he english?” Kisin: “No, that’s not what I said...”

Is this funny or tragic? Fagic? Either way, sadly very accurate.

This is such a fascinating article. A short read that is very well worth your time.

Suella Braverman? Ha ha. Farage should just call his company Tories Reformed.

I really don't want to see a person shot to death. If, like me, you are trying to avoid seeing that, but also want to understand the lies told by the Trump administration (and those who appear to be brainwashed by it) this video doesn't show the execution - just the run up to it with explanations.