Ordered, looking forward to it

#OTD 10 July 1985 French DGSE agents bombed Greenpeace's flagship vessel Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbor to prevent its use in a planned protest against an upcoming nuclear test. The attack killed photographer Fernando Pereira. France's role was uncovered, resulting in an international incident.

Some of the clematis have decided to have a second burst of flowers

Does anyone on British Bluesky* have a copy of Rail magazine’s 24 June print edition, cover story “Give us some space say charter owners”, they licensed one of London Centric’s pieces and I missed my chance to buy it. *pretty confident, ngl

Scum. 'Rupert Lowe told Joe Rogan, the world’s most popular podcaster, handguns were banned "because there was a murder up in Dunblane". Rogan asks: "One murder?" Lowe replies: "One murder." 16 children aged 5 & 6 and their teacher were killed by Thomas Hamilton.' www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...

On this day in 1981, Richard Cobb got an honorary degree from the University of Essex. That may not seem significant to you, but it makes this afternoon the 45th anniversary of one of the finest graduation addresses ever delivered 🧵

Presumably nursing is here to attract massive public criticism leading to well-publicised govt backtracking, in the hope that creative arts, archaeology et al can then be cut almost unnoticed

I’m reading a very interesting student MA dissertation about the use of incense in the Anglican Church in Japan, which touches on the 1899 Incense controversy. Still mildly arresting to be reminded that MacLaggan’s judgement (which found against the use of incense) also dealt with (& condemned) 1/3

Isn't Hansard wonderful? Aren't historians wonderful? We don't have to let charlatans play us.

Please tell me this isn't true

After riding school buses to World Cup games, the Tartan Army has donated $15,000 to Massachusetts Child, a charity led by the Massachusetts Teachers Association that supports students with financial need. trib.al/3huH8mG

Apart from the intrinsic value of the arts, THEY ARE ONE OF THE UK'S MOST SUCCESSFUL EXPORT INDUSTRIES. This is a stupid and ignorant government

Will the BBC, Sky, LBC et alia give all the candidates in the byelection 27 minutes of uninterrupted air time as they did Nigel Farage?

Hello, I’ve an event for my Muriel Spark biography next Weds (15th) at Waterstones Liverpool. We’ve sold barely any tickets, however, and it might be cancelled as a result. Please get a ticket if you’re nearby - it’ll be a lot of fun, and I’ll bring badges! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/waterstone...

“We have also always stood with the LGBTQ+ community” – Carl Cashman says about the Liberal Democrats www.attitude.co.uk/news/carl-ca...

Maybe this hasn’t sunk in for anyone who should care but the NHS was birthed when the UK *literally had negative money*. The USA had razed us of every penny to pay for weapons to defend ourselves against Germany, Germany had bombed all our industrial sites. We still did it in 6 months. 6.

In other "excellent news from religious bodies", the US Presbyterian General Assembly has formally voted to start the process to (correctly) declare white Christian nationalism a theological error incompatible with the teachings of Jesus: pres-outlook.org/2026/07/pcus...

📉 "The Climate Change Committee estimates that reaching net zero by 2050 will cost £4bn a year – a 73% drop from its estimate five years previously." 👏 "That amounts to just 0.2% of GDP and the savings it will generate are so great that by 2040 net zero will be a net benefit to the economy."

So proud of this - TLC is hosting a FREE variety show for alternative pride, and we have BSL interpretation for the show. I'm so delighted that we are able to offer this level of accessibility for the first time ❤️ share with your d/Deaf friends! 🌈

Pope Leo at Angelus: The ‘wise and the intelligent’ are “so filled” with “their own ideas that they fail to recognize the presence of Christ, the Messiah who comes to visit his people. Human wisdom thus becomes arrogance, and doctrine degenerates into pride.” www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

This must be remembered: ALL Labour’s transphobic measures, from harming/killing children by withdrawing healthcare & introducing state-sponsored conversion therapy to an attempted national toilet ban worse than anything from Trump/MAGA were imposed without a single vote in parliament.

🚨 WE NEED YOU 🚨 As a new Prime Minister comes into power, we want to show that an overwhelming number of people support trans people, and want the government to take serious action to protect their rights. Will you say you stand with trans people? And share with everyone you know?

This is what ordained Anglican women have experienced for over thirty years

Get in line in that processional Step into that small confessional There the guy who's got religion'll Tell you if your sin's original.

"We never had this trouble with Benjamin Britten."

OK, this is a long shot, but: Do any fellow Weird Anglicans have a black double-breasted cassock that would fit someone 6' tall with 50" chest that they do not need any more and would donate to an ordinand? #CofEPeeps #Narthex

Love for everyone is not something that should be limited to Pride Month. It’s always Pride Month. Love yourself and others, always!

3/ As I wrote last year, the Treasury risks sabotaging Britain's climate leadership. If they decided to block genuinely innovative solutions to protect our planet because of “presentational risks”, it shows just how badly misplaced their priorities have become. www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

It’s a terrific book

Liberal minded people, members of a minority or not, urgently need to get our heads round the fact that there is ALWAYS a reaction against gains in equality and not get allowed to ourselves to be seduced by the idea that it wouldn’t have happened if the less privileged group had been more discreet.

Labour has closed more safe routes, including family reunification than Tories did They haven't opened new safe routes, they have rejigged existing ones to put the onus of sponsorship on individuals and community groups rather than the state Work and study routes exclude families. 1/3

The owner didn't need to speak; the dog handled the entire situation Original post

My parents made this bird sculpture from various bits of wood and old metal they found in their shed and made a perch for it on the sawn-off trunk of a dead tree, and it makes for some great folk horror winter sunset photos.

Mae angen eich help chi arnom! Mae gennym lond bocs o luniau heb unrhyw wybodaeth bellach. Allwch chi #EnwiYCapel? We need your help! We have a box of photos but no further info. Can you #NameTheChapel ? #CapeliCymru #WelshChapels

This one: britmonkey.com/2020s-politi...

Seeing as none of the royals live in Buckingham Palace, or even like the place, it should be handed over to the nation and its walled garden made public, adding it to the magnificent string of emeralds – St James's / Green / Hyde / Kensington – lying across central London. What could be finer? 🌳🌳🌳

Kinda awesome to make a bill advertised as “banning conversion therapy” when it actually overtly lays out how to make your conversion practices legal

Musk says not a single person has died due to him axing USAID. Sadly, part of my job involves tracking aid spending. So here’s a thread with just some of the people who lost their lives because of USAID cuts

Everyone else: The country is at a standstill. Schools are closing, rail lines are disrupted. The vulnerable are at risk. The climate emergency is here. Church marketing departments (I.e. in most cases the vicar on Facebook): HAVE YOU CONSIDERED COMING TO OUR COOL STONE BUILDING?

The government's own "appraisal of sustainability" for a third runway at Heathrow is WILD "[it would have] significant adverse effects for air quality, climate change, biodiversity, noise, landscape, water and other environmental topics" "At the national level, economic effects are uncertain"

It’s here! The book that I have edited, ‘For Nothing is Hidden: Masculinities and Trauma in Church and Theology’, has been released into the world! I’m so grateful to the scholars, ministers, practitioners, and poets who filled these pages with their work - happy publication day to you all!

Just home from a family trip to see Michael. What a wonderful story teller he is #noice

“I carry with me a photo of a Muslim child who, during my visit to Lebanon, was standing there holding a sign that said ‘Welcome, Pope Leo,’ and in this latest phase of the war, he was killed. “As a Church, I say again: as a pastor, I cannot be in favor of war.” — Pope Leo XIV

Nice one @libdems.org.uk 👍

A question for ecclesiastical historians and/ or seventeenth century literature people: did George Herbert or any of his contemporaries write or use vesting prayers?

The previous June UK temperature record was 35.6C in 1976. Temps are predicted up to 40C next week, bringing: 🔥 serious health impacts to the most vulnerable and risk to those in hot workplaces 🔥 likely transport disruption 🤡 no respite from media demands to ‘scrap net zero’ & sack Ed M

Belated #WorldRefugeeDay 🫶🏻 A reminder of how the people of Bridgend and Porthcawl welcomed Belgian refugees with open arms during the First World War 🇧🇪 The Glamorgan Gazette had a column written in Dutch for the refugees to be able to read news from their home country. #Wales #History

And everything else we've done this week. Not bad for 87p a week (on an annual sub). bsky.app/profile/samf...

Supporter of trans rights living in a rural area here and (despite my age) not blue-haired...cheap stereotyping by a Murdoch press "journalist" here