Just imagine narcissists came with a mute button. Imagine hitting it and never having to listen to their vicious gaslighting bullshit ever again. Imagine the planet-salving peace of that.

Happy holidays, folks. I hope next year is a little kinder.

This. All of this.

It's lovely and sweet-smelling too. Makes washing your paws a pleasure.

Never noticed before how graceful Bruce Willis's performance in Die Hard is. He basically dances around that skyscraper with heavy weaponry.

The Guardian accused me of hubris because I dared post at 3pm. The Calais Appeal donations are shooting up. Maybe the King might like to donate too? Or maybe the Government could actually implement a fair & managed migration system? A Christmas miracle!

Yes. And it also (although this is rarely heard in a Christian context) should remind us that we should show compassion to animals. The Christian godhead chose to appear in their midst.

“Pope Leo said in a Christmas Eve sermon on Wednesday that the story of Jesus being born in a stable because there was no room at an inn should remind Christians that refusing to help the poor & strangers today is tantamount to rejecting God himself.” Obvious to any REAL Christian. #MerryChristmas

Pink Ghost Pipe plant at my hometown, Logy Bay, #Newfoundland Canada. Ghost Pipes are most commonly white, but some have pink or even red colouration. Pic from a couple of years ago, in August. #wildflower #flower #botany #plants #fungifriends

The arrest of Greta Thunberg for peacefully opposing genocide and supporting those on hunger strike is wrongful and disturbing. This is yet another shocking example of the UK’s broad terrorism laws being used to target those exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly rights.

I think it's sweet that the oldest surviving printed book in the world - the Diamond Sutra - is also the oldest creative work explicitly released into the public domain, with a colophon at the end that says it was created for universal free distribution. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond...

If I decided it was too much bother to clean my house so I moved into an igloo in Antarctica for the rest of my life, you'd think I was awful stupid. Tech bros deciding they'd lose too much profit if they stopped destroying the Earth because they can move to Mars someday is even stupider.

I live in a rural area. It's hard to convey just how despised these people are. Part time big city 'country folk' and it's not even about the hunt, it's a power trip where they block roads and run roughshod over private property simply because they believe they're better than the rest of us.

I investigated Epstein a little less than a decade ago, more focused on his ties to Russia, and all year, I have not focused on him, but after reading some of the documents this morning, I am beyond sickened and outraged. Trump and his DOJ goons must be impeached

Melania certainly knows where the bodies are buried. So did Ivana Trump, which is probably why she was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in 2022.

The always spectacular Snowcap #hummingbird at @tapirvalley.bsky.social #CostaRica #birds #nature #hummingbirds

It should be taken seriously as an indicator of high psychopathy. Empathy is on a spectrum - enjoying terrorising animals is taken as red flag for APD, so why do we treat hunting differently?

If we're to turn the tide on nature loss, we're going to need a government that treats it with the level of priority that was given to holding on to the nitrates derogation www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

Every day.

The Irish/Gaeilge word for 'solstice' is 'grianstad' which can be translated literally as 'sun stop'. Which is very nice. Directly reflecting the Latin 'Solstitium' - 'sun stopped'. (17thC sun image - BM)

The good news : The days are getting longer again from now. #wintersolstice

Astronomical #winter starts today. It's the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight with the sun starting to set later each day until Summer Solstice. The mosaic depicts the dancing Genii (protective spirits) of the four seasons. The Genius of winter is wrapped in a heavy cloak.🧵1/2 #Solstice

Solstice at Callanish this morning #StandingStoneSunday

We lost our most beloved companion animal this week. The shock and grief are horrendous. Never let anyone say that they're "only a pet".

The Walliams era has been one of the darkest times for children's books: a celebrity's side-hustle being promoted over heartfelt, challenging and sincere work by writers who saw this as their life's work. His rising tide lifted no other boats. He did not give any child a lifelong love of reading.

Annie Ovenden (British, b.1945) "The Barn at Nighttime," n.d. Oil on board #art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt

#ArtWork: The 18th-century Baroque marble sculpture “Il Disinganno” [Translation: Release from Disillusionment], carved by the Genoese artist Francesco Queirolo. #TheDETAIL on the net is just… BEYOND.

This is for anyone who needs it...

Goodnight from the dark of Brighthaven’s Palace Theatre, where its music hall ghosts are still singing songs about filthy faeries. Goodnight from a tipsy Joan Tidy, riding three stops before realising she’s gotten aboard one of Ashcourt’s infamous ghost trams. Goodnight from Hookland.

An insider says waste, including acid + chemicals from an old ICI site, was once stored in pools, by the site of the current Jameson Road landfill. I sampled near a discharge outlet below the landfill + had it tested for PFAS. Catch the results on @theworld.org: theworld.org/segments/202...

I agree. There is a real difference being neutral and undefended. If we’re undefended we cannot be neutral. Our Naval Service has no sonar. Our Air Corps has no radar. We are leaving ourselves open to Russian claims we are assisting in hiding Britain’s nuclear deterrent. They don’t see us neutral.

"Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney sweepers, come to dust"

My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants. Asked him recently why he’s so strong on it: ‘Because we’re always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it’s not about disliking immigrants. It’s about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that’s a bad human instinct.’

Unbe-fucking-lievable... Putin's puppet, #Trump, is getting a pat on the back because his 'vision' aligns with the Kremlin's. Wake up, Europe! Under its current administration, the USA is a hostile state 😢 www.bbc.com/news/article...

The issue of Irish vulnerability re. Russia is a very real and pressing problem. The risks are now quite high. And there's the small matter of endangering, by omission, one's neighbours and "allies". Zelensky deserved better security than he apparently received last week.

It sure looks like Russian intelligence attempted to use military drones to assassinate the President of Ukraine inside an EU country. Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.

A few months ago I read that many datasets used to train these AI models are full of porn to ensure “women aren’t underrepresented in the dataset.” Once you know, you see it everywhere.

The replies on this are instructive. Fact is, Ireland talks a good game on the Ukraine-Russia situation (is this "neutrality"?) , whilst being effectively helpless if Russia should ever take those big words seriously enough to attack. But mention joining NATO in Ireland and duck for cover.

But, but we're NEUTRAL Christian. Surely the dastardly Russians would respect that, right? Right?

Quite unusual track of 'MT CROCO' aka 'ARIA' Broadcasting Gambia MMSI - EU/UK sanctioned, must be assumed to be false. Doing 18 knots through the Irish Sea 🤨 sketchy.boats/9327360

🔴 Nigel Farage’s Reform is more reliant on super-rich backers than any major party in modern British political history 75% of *all* Reform donations *ever* have come from just three rich men Is this what democracy looks like? New on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/75-of-refo...

What people are not talking about: Russian drones were circling a French nuclear submarine yesterday. France shot them down.

The replies on this are instructive. Fact is, Ireland talks a good game on the Ukraine-Russia situation (is this "neutrality"?) , whilst being effectively helpless if Russia should ever take those big words seriously enough to attack. But mention joining NATO in Ireland and duck for cover.

👇👇

Jesus Christ, this is actually real. He just did this.

Everyone should boycott Eurovision. Make it a one-person show. Israel in an empty room

So AI is taking all the drinking water, using all the electricity, buying up RAM making it more expensive for everyone else. The arseholes need a wealth tax, not more resources.

Is the UK being handed over to the USA? It's beginning to feel like it. Let me be clear, Scotland is a European country. The UK needs to be fully aware of its choices. Scotland is and will continue to be a European country. I have never in my life been this level of disappointed in the Labour Party.

Does Daddy’s chum own the newspaper you’re writing for? Or bang on about mansion tax? Then you may be classed as ‘gammon’, the upper class failson variety.