It’s the happiest time of the year for fans of Guy Fawkes! And the only day I don’t feel shameless for plugging my brexity short story, speculating on what might happen by 2030 if someone got the idea to do an encore… medium.com/@lizsilversm...

You can really tell when gender-equal shortlisting efforts have gone out the window for a by-election... mm FRESH Also you can watch the hustings here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... I don't know if I'll make it all the way through.

First of all, 5mm isn't microscopic and you CAN see them. Second of all, the fact that our Chancellor thinks she can't see these seems to mean she thinks they're not worthy of our consideration. A hallmark of this government's terminal lack of imagination. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Spoiler - they did not do better

"I asked Chat GPT" Well we asked an expert and then we asked other experts in that field to review the first expert's work.

Only now able to post about today's Country Diary I wrote, because I've been stomping around a bog in the Cambrian Mountains all day 😁 If we can overcome the barriers we're told to have in place, we have so much more in common. Please read and share! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The rare art of compromise… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Reform UK: “Free speech! You can’t say anything these days!” Also Reform UK: “You’re banned from reporting on our council because we don’t like what you said.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Just a PSA for gamers, The Alters is one of the best I’ve played in a long time and I recommend it to everyone who likes story in their gaming. But especially for people who like resource management, replay-ability with different methods, and sci fi lovers who hear ‘clones’ and go “oooooooh”

I wrote a thing!

Please please keep workshopping it guys... this is not a sensible name... "I've just joined Your Party" "Oh, MY party?" "No, YOUR PARTY" "So, what, my political party" "No The Your Party" "THE MY PARTY?!"

Not sure Welsh Conservatives' policy to 'force people back into offices 5 days a week' is the vote winner they think it is... Welsh Gov has realised the huge work-life balance benefits WFH gives... I'm sure most employees would agree on need to downsize the office. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Woof, VERY TONE DEAF from UK Ministers I really like Jo Stevens, did some 2014/15 campaigning with her & know she means well, but she's got MUCH work to convince the rest to treat Wales better. If nothing else, it's been a Labour heartland for years, have some sense... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I’m never understand people who claim humans are the pinnacle of evolution when I have to sign in to Microsoft Team while he spends his morning like this.

Extremely cute AND informative table additions from @transport-wales.bsky.social, well done 👏 Who doesn’t love a map

National Park CEOs calling for wild camping to be expanded so that it can be properly managed makes total sense. It's a wonder this hasn't happened sooner.

If you’re walking around the world with an invisible disability (which is the lived experience for many late discovered and highly masked #autistic people), sometimes the kindest thing you can do for yourself is to simply pause and acknowledge that “This is really hard."

ADHD and autism

Adhd and autism

Prepping for an early start for a conference on neurodivergence at work by worrying all eve I’d oversleep… then morning of, waking up at 5:45 (90 mins earlier than necessary) & not being able to go back to sleep. These are the unseen things ND peeps have to do to try fit in with everyone else.

Proud of the garden I created from nothing 6-8yrs ago. Been 100% neglected (no watering, pruning etc) for 3+ yrs. If you plant drought tolerant, location suited flora, you don’t need large amounts of work once established. All desperately need a prune/tidy up… soon hopefully💜😊

The dress code said “wear a tuxedo”. Photo from my collection, no documented date/info.

This is like a movie where a bunch of kindergarten kids swap bodies with the leaders of the government

Every single year my sleep gets messed up around now, and every single time I’m late to realising it’s because the clocks are about to go forward (or indeed just have) and it messes up my - already delicate hold - onto some kind of circadian rhythm Damn you daylight savings

The alphabet, arranged symmetrically designed by Scott Kim. This is unimaginably pleasing.

in this week's newsletter! somehow 4,000 words on why I've decided to (mostly) stop writing about Westminster politics: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/westminste...

Just watching the news feels like an extreme sport these days - don't bother unless you want an anxiety spike.

Huge win! Government announces plans to open up the Land Registry. If delivered, will finally reveal more about who owns land in England and Wales. Read my blog post for more details & how you can write to the Minister to make sure this now happens: whoownsengland.org/2025/03/06/h... 🧵1/

i don’t do “small steps” i do zero steps then all the steps at once in an unhinged burst of manic efficiency that i will not be able to replicate again for months

I have been remiss in my cat posting. Wolfy is just usually closer by to me than Fox, his 200% more chill and friendly adopted brother. Half maine coone, half doofus, all beautiful. #CatsOfBlueSky

Wolfy eyeing up current enemy number one - a local (probably stray) tomcat who beat him up last week and meant he’s grounded indoors till he’s fully healed. #catsofbluesky

It's not doomscrolling, it's just hunting for anxiety truffles

I am massively enjoying this early upturn of spring but a good reminder of why this is happening... today I have seen a BEE and a butterfly, and it feels way too early, but hey, butterflies gonna butterfly. Just thrilled to see any at all these days. www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti...

Big news from the Welsh Parliament today as the Bro Morgannwg member Jane Hutt announces she will be leaving the Senedd. She is longest-serving female minister in the UK’s history and subject of jokes about her extraordinary political longevity & electoral success. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Also my first thought when I read cats could catch it - I will John wick / captain holt your way into your nightmares, flu birds. Stay away from MY FLUFFY BOIS

New blogpost: Palmerston is back peterblack.blogspot.com/2025/02/palm...

I’ve been recovering from a dental implant the last couple of weeks and Wolfy has been an extremely good therapy cat #catswithjobs

After Meta announced they are getting rid of fact checkers, we drove to Meta HQ with our thoughts…

Virtual and hybrid schools are a success story in post-Covid education. Why isn’t the government working with them to tackle absenteeism? | Dorothy Lepkowska-Hudson @dotlepkowska.bsky.social

The (Dino) chicken and the egg. This was my first commission of 2024 (technically begun in 2023) for the Science Gallery Melbourne’s Not Natural Exhibition.

My random, yet now strangely relevant, story of my only interaction with Keir Starmer is on assisted dying. I was working in Parliament for Alun Michael MP at the time, and there was a backbench Commons debate on Public Prosecution guidelines for suspected euthanasia cases.

Thinking about this article that was doing the rounds the other day. The only ‘ #Wales ’ angle raised by voters was the Vaughan Gething affair, now clearly in the past. Does make me wonder if a strong ‘Clear Red Water’ campaign could be enough for Labour… 1/3 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...

The best guarantor of free expression is an open, distributed internet. Links are essential to that. Anyone who’s thought with any depth about free expression understands this. Elon has feet of clay on free speech: his actual commitment to it is barely even skin deep.

We left our futon out after a friend stayed the night (over a week ago) and Foxy has slept on it every day and night since. So I guess our spare room is now his room? People don’t just become crazy cat people - the cats do this to them. And he’s worth it

Great to welcome MS for #Pontypridd @mickantoniw.bsky.social here and former FM & Bridgend MS @carwynj.bsky.social - both now added to this Seneddwyr/cyn-Seneddwyr Starter Pack. #Wales #Cymru 👇 (Ignore my presence, I’m neither past/present/future!) go.bsky.app/7z84W2k

I made this video looking at Wales' new tourism tax. It explores how much it will be, when it is coming in and why they are doing it. If you prefer it old school I have also done you a thread! [Thread] youtu.be/QoAPDixVEeY?...

Here's a map with a difference. Titled "Empty Wales", this map depicts hundreds of yellow squares - each one representing a 1 kilometre square. The interesting part? Each of these squares contain not a single building inside. As incredibly eerie as it is astounding!

in honor of adhd awareness month I forgot to take my vyvanse until just now despite the fact it was in my direct line of sight for the last hour

“Why are you doing it that way?” Because my brain needs interest, novelty, challenge, or urgency to get motivated. Yes, I know it’s important. Yes, I know your way works for you and seems like the “logical” way. But I need to do it my way to have a chance of doing it at all.