I don't know why this is so hard for some people to grasp. If we extend our use of fossil gas, rather than going all-out for grid batteries, heat pumps and induction hobs, we extend our dependence on *foreign* sources of gas, regardless of whether we also use the UK's last remaining reserves. 🧵

Buses should be fast and free. It’s ridiculous that in Worcester it would cost a parent and child £8.60 return to go into town - more than 6 hours of parking at the most expensive car park. If pensioners can have it to help with their cost of living, why not everyone else? #commonsense

North Carolina Farm Stole H-2A Visa Workers’ Passports: Lawsuit prospect.org/2026/04/22/n...

Hope isn’t blind optimism — it arises in the face of uncertainty. If you look at our history, we’ve gone through some rough patches. But we tend to come out on the other side of them stronger than before.

The president cannot pass legislation without Congress. The Congress can pass legislation without the president. Can someone explain to me. Why do we focus on the presidential race instead of our reps and senators? They are the ones who are supposed to be doing the will of "We the People."

tRump is in the shitter in every poll. “I feel disgusted with myself, I feel betrayed, like he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing,”—Katherine Bright, 60, a retired captain in the U.S. Air Force. 33% of U.S. adults approve of tRump’s job performance. Who in TF are these nuts? #ProudBlue #tRumpPolls

1. Gillian Ayres (1930-2018), “Distillation” (1957), oil paint and household paint on hardboard, 152.4 x 213.4 cm. 2. Gillian Ayres photographed by Roger Mayne, 1960.

OBE Gillian Ayres, Break-off, 1961 https://botfrens.com/collections/14375/contents/1124467

Sun Up (1960) by Gillian Ayres

Just cancelled my Paramount+ subscription #BlockTheMerger

Everything the Ellison family could own if Paramount buys Warner Bros: Paramount+ CBS CNN Showtime HBO Warner Bros TNT TBS MTV DC Studios Nickelodeon Comedy Central Cartoon Network And more... This is a rotten deal that the Trump regime has rubber stamped. State AGs must step in and block it.

#StephenColbertShow only has one month left. We need to boost his ratings way up before he leaves on May 21st, then drop CBS/Paramount flat. Show them they made a big mistake.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has officially declared his opposition to the proposed $81B merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount: “New York City is on record: this merger should be stopped.”

From a scientist that knows more than an evangeliest.

Sadly, this is where we are. #USDemocracy

The numbers also show that immigrants working through legal paths to citizenship are overwhelmingly both more productive in society (they pay taxes yet can't receive govt benefits as they are non-citizens, and do jobs citizens largely don't want) AND less likely to break the law than citizens are.

8/ Because history is full of people who watched something monstrous grow while insisting the rules would save them. And history is also full of ghosts wandering the halls of failed republics wondering why nobody acted while there was still time.

7/ The right already shattered the norms. They shredded them openly and dared anyone to stop them. And too many Democrats responded by acting like preserving decorum was morally superior to fighting back.

6/ So when people say “packing the court breaks norms,” understand something: Those norms are not sacred. They are constructed. Manufactured. Conditioned into us over decades by people who benefited from public passivity.

5/ Meanwhile the right treated every institution like a weapon. Courts. Media. State legislatures. Law enforcement. School boards. Everything. They understood power while liberals obsessed over procedure.

3/ They were more concerned with preserving the image of the system than stopping what was growing inside it. And what was growing was obvious: White supremacy. Christian nationalism. Open fascism. Nazi politics repackaged in red, white, and blue branding. None of this appeared overnight.

2/ But because it’s a litmus test. A test of whether they understand fascism does not politely wait while defenders of democracy debate decorum. One of the reasons we are in this mess now is because Democrats had opportunities to act and chose institutional norms over actually protecting people.

1/ It’s midterms season, so there’s not a lot of room for “next president” discourse right now. But I’ll say this anyway: I want the next president to be willing to consider expanding the Supreme Court. Not because it’s a one-issue race. Not because court expansion magically fixes everything.

Marco Vigliotti: The Americans are saying it's not really a negotiation, we're laying out what we need to see Canada do and Canada is not meeting this PM Carney: That's a negotiation. That's a position. We're not sitting here taking notes and taking instruction from the US

@alan678.bsky.social says today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Insectivores, any bird whose diet consists mainly of insects. A #CommonChaffinch in breeding season.

1. GOP called it "Democratic gerrymandering", not realizing that's letting the people decide, not cheating, gimmickry or trickery, like trying to rush the the SAVE act late at night, or not attend the 9/11 memorial to call a last minute vote.

Reporter: What do you make of Republicans saying that Virginia— AOC: Wah wah wah. We have asked Republicans for 10 years to ban partisan gerrymandering. And for 10 years, Republicans have said no. What they’re just mad at is that they have been accustomed to a Democratic Party that rolls over.

Realizing US citizens paid $166 Billion in illegal tariffs and now it’s being refunded back to corporations instead of us.

Clearing Strait of Hormuz of mines could take 6 months, Pentagon tells Congress

YES!!!!! As a Florida resident, I say more of this, please! 👏👏

Following the Quiet #believeInFilm #filmisnotdead #35mm

Here’s one from the archive for today’s #RestingBeakFace theme. This #GreatBlueHeron was not happy at all about the clammy, windy conditions on an exposed dock. #BirdOfTheDay #herons #birds #wildlifephotography #EastCoastKin

Wood storks always seem to me like they have #RestingBeakFace #BirdOfTheDay #bird #wildlife #nature #photography #EastCoastKin Regimen fascisticum delenda est!

A black-capped chickadee outside its nest along the St. Vrain Creek in Longmont, Colorado. #BirdofTheDay #Insectivores #bird #birdphotography #EastCoastKin #ECK #birds #photography #BirdsSeenln2026 #photograph #photographs #photo #photos

Palantir is a sinister, CIA-backed company whose founder is a far right extremist. It should have no place in British public institutions. sussexbylines.co.uk/politics/dem...

President Donald Trump has issued a 'shoot to kill' order for Iranian boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz

Trump told you he’d run America like a business. He is. It’s called asset stripping. You sell the profitable pieces, gut the workforce, load it with debt, and walk away rich while everyone else holds the bag. Congratulations. You didn’t elect a president. You hired a liquidator.

Johnson conveniently forgot that Newsom warned Trump: if Republicans gerrymander Texas, California would fight fire with fire, and other states would follow. So now that Republicans don’t like the taste of their own medicine, maybe they can finally get serious about a federal ban on gerrymandering.

Posted this morning by the President of the United States.

"Corporate Travel Management (CTM) said its auditor had found evidence of “erroneous billing” of its UK clients ... & that it knew as far back as 2022 that it had overcharged ... by £54.6m. In Nov 2025, it announced it had overcharged by a total of £77.6m, then on Thursday revised that up to £118m."

Of all the vile traits that embody the Epstein Class: the hoarding of wealth, the megalomaniacal demagoguery and the corruption, it’s their absolute disdain for and the pleasure they derive from harming everyday people that is so beyond my realm of comprehension. The level of sadism is staggering.

Very hot in CENTRAL ASIA Today Temperatures up to 30C above 50N latitude between North Kazakhstan near the border with Russia/Siberia. On Saturday hot air from Middle East will reach Turkmenistan with Temperatures up to 40C.

“.. Developing Asia is already in a full-blown energy crisis. .. Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are facing shortages, rationing and demand destruction. .. If the strait remains closed, this will develop, horribly, into a food crisis ..” @robarmstrong.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/b5e2...

Thursday 23rd April 2026: I am still closed. The men in charge are arguing about who will control me as I can make money for them. These men are trying to pimp me out

An Adolescent Alan Partridge? A Junior Richard Madeley? Or perhaps a Young David Brent? 😇